Out of the blue on Saturday, the San Francisco 49ers announced that quarterback Colin Kaepernick has been sent to season-ending injured reserve. There goes any chance for Kaepernick to change the 49ers' mind about him before the end of the season.
Now the team has a tougher job in evaluating what to do for 2016 and beyond.
According to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee, Kaepernick went to team doctors after practice on Friday and said his shoulder was sore. Barrows wrote that Kaepernick's injury dated back to a game against the Green Bay Packers on Oct. 4. He didn't show up on the injury report for a shoulder issue until Friday. He was listed as probable for this week's game, but on Saturday his season officially ended. Cam Inman of the San Jose Mercury News specified that Kaepernick has a torn labrum and will have surgery on Tuesday. Quarterback Dylan Thompson was activated from the practice squad.
Kaepernick, of course, had already lost his job to Blaine Gabbert. He was benched, and then Gabbert had a solid game in a win over the Atlanta Falcons two weeks ago. Still, there had to be some thought in the organization that Kaepernick would get another shot before the season ended, just to provide some further evaluation.
Now the 49ers go into the offseason knowing Kaepernick is due $16.7 million next season and $19.3 million the season after that. Will they pay that for a player who struggled so badly this season he was benched for Gabbert? Kaepernick has been in a severe decline the last two seasons, after helping the 49ers reach a Super Bowl in the 2012 season and an NFC championship game the season after that. But Kaepernick is still just 28 years old, it's hard to start over at quarterback in the NFL, and Gabbert has never shown he's a long-term answer as a starting NFL quarterback. So with Saturday's news, it's possible Kaepernick's 49ers career is over. His season definitely is. Now the team has a complicated offseason ahead of it in which it has to figure out the rest.
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