There are going to be a lot of names thrown around as potential quarterback options for the New York Giants following the devastating Jaxson Dart injury news. Some will make sense. Some won't.
And then there’s Colin Kaepernick.
Yes, that Colin Kaepernick. The 38-year-old who hasn’t played an NFL game since the 2016 season. The one who's been out of the league for a decade. Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio floated the ridiculous idea of Big Blue bringing the (longtime) former San Francisco 49ers quarterback in for a workout after Dart’s knee injury turned out to be worse than initially anticipated.
I'm sorry. Like, what? What year am I in right now?
Giants turning to Colin Kaepernick after Jaxson Dart injury would be certifiably bonkers
I'll try to walk you through how Florio went from Dart's injured to taking a look at Kaepernick, but it's borderline nonsensical.
Head coach John Harbaugh recently revealed that he wanted to bring Kaepernick to Baltimore back in 2017, when the Ravens were dealing with an injury to Joe Flacco. Giants senior offensive assistant Greg Roman also coached Kaepernick in San Francisco, including during the 49ers’ run to Super Bowl XLVII.
And Kaepernick was a legitimate dude back then. Across six seasons with San Francisco, he threw for 12,271 yards, 72 touchdowns, and 30 interceptions, adding another 2,300 yards and 13 scores on the ground. The problem is the “back then” part.
Florio saying "it would be easy to configure the offense to fit Kaepernick" is a Mr. Fantastic-level stretch that not even Marvel would touch. The last time I laughed that hard, I fell off my dinosaur.
Kaepernick hasn’t played an NFL snap since Jan. 1, 2017. His lone NFL workout since leaving San Fran came with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2022, when he was 34. He’s now 38.
While he was older than Kaepernick, look at how the Philip Rivers experiment went last year with the Colts after he’d been out of the league for only four years. He threw for 544 yards in three games and lost all three.
The most likely outcome is this is now the Jameis Winston experience for however long Dart is sidelined. New York signed the former No. 1 overall pick for this exact scenario, and he’ll presumably get the first crack at running the show.
From there, the G-Men could elevate Jake Haener from the practice squad and potentially bring Brandon Allen back after he spent the offseason with the team. If they want to look outside the building, Cowboys P-Squad QB Joe Milton III is sitting right there for the poaching. Jimmy Garoppolo remains a free agent. Gardner Minshew could potentially be available via trade.
Personally, I will always leave the porch light on for one Thomas “Cutlets” DeVito. Unfortunately, Tommy Cutlets is with the New England Patriots now, so that reunion would also require a trade. The point being, there are options.
Maybe none of those guys are particularly appealing. Losing your 23-year-old franchise QB in Week 2 generally doesn’t come with the most exciting contingency plan.
A Kaepernick workout would certainly generate attention, and the Harbaugh/Roman connections explain why his name was brought up in the first place. They still don’t change the fact that he hasn’t played a snap since January 2017.
The Giants need another QB. There are considerably more realistic places to start looking.
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