NFL, Kaepernick Apparently Reach Settlement

Lawyers representing unsigned quarterback Colin Kaepernick and Carolina Panthers safety Eric Reid released the following statement on Friday afternoon concerning their clients' collusion lawsuit against the NFL:

pic.twitter.com/5sdcGSuwvW

— Mark Geragos (@markgeragos) February 15, 2019

The NFLPA released their own statement shortly thereafter:

pic.twitter.com/sTpsKOzzKP

— NFLPA (@NFLPA) February 15, 2019

The case was set to be heard before an arbitrator next month. Kaepernick and Reid had no obvious reason to withdraw their complaint, so the logical conclusion is that the two sides reached a financial settlement.

15 Feb 2019, 03:22pm by Vincent Verhei

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Comments

33 comments, Last at 21 Feb 2019, 11:15am

1 Re: NFL, Kaepernick Apparently Reach Settlement

by Mountain Time ---- formerly Ninjalectual // Feb 15, 2019 - 4:11pm

I wonder what the NFL gets out of this. It's not like they wouldn't want the publicity, they're beyond all-in against Kaepernick here, so much so they probably relished the potential publicity that would go over well for an (apparently) large part of their fan base, if they expected to win. They can also easily outspend the players in legal fees without feeling anything.

Did Kaep/Reid actually have evidence to support their case that the league didn't want to become public? What else could explain this? (IANAL, and I don't know any that practice this area of law)

I was already convinced that most if not all NFL teams have colluded and are colluding against Kaep, Reid, and others, and this settlement seems to be one more piece of evidence on the pile.

4 Re: NFL, Kaepernick Apparently Reach Settlement

by Pottsville Maroons Curse // Feb 15, 2019 - 5:35pm

The NFL gets to put the collusion issue to bed, and they avoid having a court make a definitive statement that they colluded. That's probably worth whatever they paid Kaep and Reid from a marketing perspective and for the NFL's peace of mind.

8 Re: NFL, Kaepernick Apparently Reach Settlement

by Cythammer // Feb 15, 2019 - 9:00pm

I think the publicity is actually terrible for them. Ratings tumbled last year when this stuff was at its peak, then rebounded this season as it faded away. The NFL wants all this to become a memory as quickly as possible. Politics makes entertainment, such as sports, a lot less enjoyable. Moving on from this damaging episode is very much in the NFL's interest.

11 Re: NFL, Kaepernick Apparently Reach Settlement

by D // Feb 16, 2019 - 12:01am

The NFL was probably hoping to avoid discovery. Even if there was no evidence of collusion (direct or otherwise) there could still be plenty of embarrassing stuff in there. Plus, the NFL was probably tired of the attention this whole thing was getting.

13 Re: NFL, Kaepernick Apparently Reach Settlement

by Mr Shush // Feb 16, 2019 - 7:17am

This is my suspicion. It's not that the collusion case was ironclad; it's that one or more owners said something really, really embarrassing that would have become public if the case had moved forward.

16 Re: NFL, Kaepernick Apparently Reach Settlement

by Shylo // Feb 16, 2019 - 7:44pm

This is my belief as well, considering I didn't think the collusion case had a leg to stand on.

21 Re: NFL, Kaepernick Apparently Reach Settlement

by Scott P. // Feb 17, 2019 - 1:24pm

Did Kaep/Reid actually have evidence to support their case that the league didn't want to become public?

Hint: the evidence begins with "P" and ends with "eterman".

2 Re: NFL, Kaepernick Apparently Reach Settlement

by Bright Blue Shorts // Feb 15, 2019 - 5:04pm

Am I missing something?

Kaep says "no team will sign him because he knelt".

Then Reid says the same.

The Reid gets signed.

It seems pretty hard to claim you're being colluded against once a team picks you up.

3 Re: NFL, Kaepernick Apparently Reach Settlement

by coremill // Feb 15, 2019 - 5:26pm

Just because Reid eventually got signed doesn't mean he didn't have a claim for damages. If the collusion depressed the market for his services, forcing him to miss part of the season and then accept a contract for a smaller amount than he would have otherwise received, he would be entitled to recover for the difference between the greater amount he would have received and the lesser amount he actually received due to the collusion (assuming he could prove all of that).

5 Re: NFL, Kaepernick Apparently Reach Settlement

by Pottsville Maroons Curse // Feb 15, 2019 - 5:37pm

Kaepernick was the face of the movement. Reid was just another participant out of the many who kneeled - an enthusiastic one, but not one that the majority of folks who were up in arms over Kaepernick would have been able to identify or care about.

10 Re: NFL, Kaepernick Apparently Reach Settlement

by herewegobrowniesherewego // Feb 15, 2019 - 11:47pm

A QB who'd been out since the 2016 season ended is a different situation, both in time out and in publicity level, from a DB who was unemployed just part of the 2018 season.

Additionally, without getting into the other particulars, Reid was at the time better relative to others at his position...

20 Re: NFL, Kaepernick Apparently Reach Settlement

by jackiel // Feb 17, 2019 - 12:49pm

Yep. Due to how the Reid situation turned out, it'd be very difficult for the NFL to disprove collusion. During the offseason after 2017, he was somehow deemed unemployable. Yet after a few inevitably injuries occur during the 2018 season, Carolina signs him and he performs in line with his historical standards despite being subject to frequent drug tests, ultimately signing a long-term contract with the team after the 2018 season. With those set of facts, it would have been idiotic for the NFL to go to the court.

6 Re: NFL, Kaepernick Apparently Reach Settlement

by billprudden // Feb 15, 2019 - 6:43pm

I can't criticize them for getting paid, but man did I want those emails and other docs to come out. And the possibility of the likes of JJ deposed, oh my!

7 Re: NFL, Kaepernick Apparently Reach Settlement

by ssereb // Feb 15, 2019 - 7:58pm

Your enthusiasm for discovery is probably the precise reason the league agreed to what I can only assume is a large settlement.

9 Re: NFL, Kaepernick Apparently Reach Settlement

by Sixknots // Feb 15, 2019 - 11:19pm

Yeah, 50-70 something-something millions.

12 Re: NFL, Kaepernick Apparently Reach Settlement

by BJR // Feb 16, 2019 - 6:42am

Its fun to laugh at Jerry Jones and the like, but I still cannot comprehend any of the owners (or their lackeys) being stupid or reckless enough to have done something that could meet the standards required for collusion to be proven in the courtroom (not that I know what that standard is, but I assume difficult).

My interpretation is that this is just the NFL getting Kaepernick to go away, once and for all, for what is presumably the proverbial drop in the ocean for them in terms of money.

14 Re: NFL, Kaepernick Apparently Reach Settlement

by billprudden // Feb 16, 2019 - 9:14am

Cause billionaires is smarts?

There was never one conversation that went something like

"Bob, your father and my grandfather literally built this league. We've dedicated our entire lives to our teams, since we were little boys crawling around the carpet under our dad's desks. I'll be damned if that SOB plays another down, and I know you will too..."

Cause that's that, if so...

15 Re: NFL, Kaepernick Apparently Reach Settlement

by IAmJoe // Feb 16, 2019 - 4:40pm

Even if they managed not to say something that amounts to "yeah we're colluding", I can't imagine that some of those owners weren't emailing some awfully stupid stuff that would've been an absolute blast to read.

17 Re: NFL, Kaepernick Apparently Reach Settlement

by Will Allen // Feb 16, 2019 - 9:07pm

To paraphrase Stringer Bell from "The Wire"..."You sendin' emails 'bout a motherf*uckin' conspiracy to collude?!".

18 Re: NFL, Kaepernick Apparently Reach Settlement

by Sixknots // Feb 16, 2019 - 11:54pm

I'm gonna guess that the * was supposed to replace the u . Will, the FCC would like to talk to you. :)

19 Re: NFL, Kaepernick Apparently Reach Settlement

by Will Allen // Feb 17, 2019 - 9:20am

'DOHHHHH!

22 Re: NFL, Kaepernick Apparently Reach Settlement

by LondonMonarch // Feb 17, 2019 - 5:52pm

With a bit of light racial content, no doubt....

23 Re: NFL, Kaepernick Apparently Reach Settlement

by PatsFan // Feb 17, 2019 - 6:29pm

That’s probably what the NFL was looking to sweep under the rug. I’d be shocked if there wasn’t some racist stuff that the NFL and some teams were terrified would see the light of day.

27 Re: NFL, Kaepernick Apparently Reach Settlement

by BJR // Feb 19, 2019 - 8:23am

Well yeah that's sort of what I meant by paying him to go away. He was never going to 'win', but he's already caused the league plenty of nuisance and embarrassment. This prevents any more. And nicely timed to give the maximum possible time for everybody to forget about it before the start of next season.

32 Re: NFL, Kaepernick Apparently Reach Settlement

by RickD // Feb 21, 2019 - 11:15am

This is the same league whose owners don't understand early 18th century science. So "stupid enough" certainly is a possibility.

The owners were taking a beating from fans who hated the kneeling and from a President who decided he could profit politically by inserting himself into the mess. I think one thing we can say is that you would certainly be amazed at how stupid people can be. Or rather, it's not so much stupidity but years and years of getting used to the trappings of great power. I'm sure billionaires collude about all sorts of things all the time. And it's possible that, as a business decision, paying Kaepernick this settlement money hurts them far less than dealing with the mess that would happened were he signed.

24 Re: NFL, Kaepernick Apparently Reach Settlement

by barf // Feb 18, 2019 - 12:34pm

Interesting that this settlement was made at a time when the season is over, interest in the league is probably pretty low. My thought is that the NFL is hoping that settling now will mean people will forget about this once the season starts again.

I believe Kaep won't ever play another down in the NFL though. No one wants the baggage that may go with him being on the roster, plus the biggest reason to me is that he hasn't taken a snap in 2 seasons now. How many players (particularly QBs) can take that much time off and come back and be effective?

25 Re: NFL, Kaepernick Apparently Reach Settlement

by Cythammer // Feb 18, 2019 - 5:39pm

It's been obvious for a long time now that Kaepernick was never going to play in the NFL again. When ratings fell last year, apparently thanks to this issue, any chance he was going to make it back disappeared. Bringing him back would only allow the fire of controversy to burn longer.

26 Re: NFL, Kaepernick Apparently Reach Settlement

by Bright Blue Shorts // Feb 19, 2019 - 5:22am

Jeff George is probably the nearest comparison. just rereading his Wiki bio he retired after playing for Washington in 2001, got picked up as an emergency QB by Seattle in 2002, then by Chicago in Nov 2004 and then tried to compete for 3rd string job in Oakland in 2006. Didn't really play in those later years but his ego thought he still had it.

28 Re: NFL, Kaepernick Apparently Reach Settlement

by Vincent Verhei // Feb 19, 2019 - 4:55pm

Michael Vick missed the bulk of three seasons while doing time in federal prison and played six more years after that. He was a better passer after his (ahem) sabbatical.

And speaking of Vick, Chris Redman had retired from the NFL after 2003 and was selling insurance, but the 2007 Falcons, desperate after Vick was suspended and I believe Joey Harrington was injured, grabbed him and had him start for four games. He ended up playing four more years after that. I don't know if you can say he was effective, but his numbers with Atlanta were much better than what he had done in his first four years in Baltimore.

29 Re: NFL, Kaepernick Apparently Reach Settlement

by sbond101 // Feb 19, 2019 - 7:26pm

Vick is a pretty good comparable for a number of reasons; The style of play, the marketing catastrophe of the issue, similar level of team success. The way I recall it, Vick was a better player and more to the point had his best season right before leaving the league instead of one of his worst. My guess is Kaepernick will get a chance as a backup behind a good QB, not make the team, and then disappear (this is based on the man having two years of terrible tape before being out of the league). This is really what the owners should have done to cover their a** if they really had intentionally colluded in the first place. Who knows though, if he really is effective NFL teams will employ just about anyone - and the NFL media is pretty friendly in covering things the way the NFL wants (though issues of race in the US have such a life of their own I'm not sure the NFL will be able to manage Kaep if he's back in the league).

30 Re: NFL, Kaepernick Apparently Reach Settlement

by Vincent Verhei // Feb 19, 2019 - 7:43pm

Michael Vick passing DVOA in 2006 (last year before prison): -20.4%

Colin Kaepernick passing DVOA in 2016: -17.5%

Kaepernick was worse than that in 2015 (-21.5%), but then Vick had been much worse in 2004 (-32.7%).

31 Re: NFL, Kaepernick Apparently Reach Settlement

by sbond101 // Feb 19, 2019 - 8:24pm

Vick also had 1,039 yds rushing in 06 for 8.4 yd/carry (vs. 468yds for 6.8 yd/carry). I don't have the DVOA information in front of me, but that's a big gap adjusted for era. Equally passing DVOA measures the passing DVOA of the whole offense, which is at least 70% dependent on factors other than the QB (OL, WR, Scheme, the effectiveness of non-scramble runs, the requirement to spy). Obviously it's a starting place and it puts them in the same ballpark (which is why its such a good comp), but I don't think DVOA is really a useful stat at the individual level.

N.B. I wasn't that astute an observer of football back in 06, or follow the Falcons closely so I freely admit to having highlight-bias in favor of Vick; more to the point the whole league held perception toward Vick that was skewed due to highlight-bias, which was an eminently more powerful effect at the time than it is now with the decline of shows like sports-center.

33 Re: NFL, Kaepernick Apparently Reach Settlement

by Theo // Feb 21, 2019 - 12:43pm

Now I understand why he wanted so much from the AAF.
I wonder though, how much he would get from an NFL franchise.
He's still pretty good I guess. There's a large market for second and third stringers, and he should be in that discussion.
I couldn't care less about what he does during pre game warmups or when someone sings the USA anthem, I just would love an NFL where the best players play. If they want to be xyz, then please be xyz.

Extra Points