INDIANAPOLIS -- The 49ers have indicated all week at the NFL Scouting Combine that they expect Colin Kaepernick to remain on the roster this season. Kaepernick might have different plans.
NFL Media's Rand Getlin reported Thursday Kaepernick's agents have requested permission from the San Francisco 49ers to seek a trade, per a source informed of the situation. According to NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport, Kaepernick and his representatives have not yet received permission from the team to seek a trade.
The report comes just one day after Niners general manager Trent Baalke said he "absolutely" expects Kaeperick to stay on the 49ers.
"I've also learned to not believe everything that's on the Internet," Kelly said via the Sacramento Bee.
Rapoport added Kelly likes Kaepernick and wants him to compete for the QB job.
Still, if Kaepernick's agents are able to receive permission from the 49ers to set up a potential trade, the Cleveland Browns and Houston Texans are among the teams that would have some interest in him, sources from around the league told Rapoport.
This trade request should get Kelly's attention. Kelly and Kaepernick appear to be a good fit on the field, but February is not football season. It's business season. Kaepernick, whose $11.9 million contract becomes guaranteed April 1, apparently believes he would be better off elsewhere.
The news raises plenty of questions. How will the 49ers respond? Have they been talking up their attachment to Kaepernick publicly as leverage for trade talks that they suspected were coming?
He was one of the NFL's most ineffective starters in 2015, is coming off surgery and has a sizable contract.
The last two years have been full of drama in San Francisco. This trade request guarantees that won't change anytime soon.
