The Jets Ignore Spike Lee And Wisely Avoid Colin Kaepernick
Spike Lee claims it “stinks to the high heavens” that polarizing quarterback Colin Kaepernick remains unemployed on an Instagram post from Sunday evening.
The 29-year-old Kaepernick, who San Francisco selected out of Nevada with the 36th overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, opted out of his contract with the 49ers on March 3. Since free agency opened on March 7, a slew of middling signal callers have found jobs around the league. However, teams have avoided the relatively talented Kaepernick like he’s akin to anthrax. According to Bleacher Report, likely because of his political views, 70 percent of the league’s general managers “hate” Kaepernick.
Kaepernick tossed 72 touchdowns, against 30 interceptions, for 12,271 yards in 69 games as a Niner. The controversial kneeler also amassed 2,300 yards and 13 scores on 375 rushes.
“How Is It That There Are 32 NFL Teams And Kap Is Still A Free Agent? WTF,” Lee wrote. “Smells MAD Fishy To Me, Stinks To The High Heavens.”
Lee, a resident of New York City, then urged the Jets to ink Kaepernick.
“The New York J-E-T-S Need A Quarterback,” he wrote. “Who Is The J-E-T-S Quarterback? Is My Man Joe Willie Namath Coming Back?”
Unfortunately for Kaepernick and Lee, roughly 24 hours after the film director’s post, Gang Green and journeyman Josh McCown agreed to a one-year deal worth $6 million on Monday. The 37-year-old McCown, a poor man’s Ryan Fitzpatrick, is 18-42 as a starter over his 14-year career. Hence, McCown isn’t exactly going to fly the Jets to its first championship since Neil Armstrong walked on the moon in 1969. Regardless, McCown is admired for being a selfless teammate and he may be able to help develop Christian Hackenberg.
The 22-year-old Hackenberg, selected by New York with the 51st pick last spring, signed a four-year contract valued at $4.66 million to become a Jet in May 2016. The 6-foot-4, 228-pound Hackenberg initially flourished at Penn State and won the Big Ten Freshman of the Year award in 2013. Primarily due to a coaching change and new system, Hackenberg badly regressed the next couple of years in Happy Valley and his flawed mechanics became something of a joke amongst analysts. Still, despite all of the negative reports, it’s unfair and, frankly, irresponsible to currently judge Hackenberg. The former Nittany Lion didn’t take a single snap last season and only insiders have seen his work at the Jets’ facilities in Florham Park, New Jersey.
McCown will initially serve as an ideal mentor for Hackenberg and then eventually relinquish his starting role to the youngster before Halloween. Featuring a heinous roster, the Jets will be eliminated by the time kids are trick-or-treating and, with zero expectations, Hackenberg can then take over under center. With roughly eight games remaining in the 2017 campaign, Hackenberg can either prove that he has genuine potential or flounder and force Jets General Manager Mike Maccagnan to acknowledge his poor choice.
Ideally for the Jets, Hackenberg will soar in East Rutherford and provide a blueprint for the future. Conversely, if Hackenberg sinks in the swamps of Jersey, Gang Green can clip him and focus on nabbing blue-chip prospect Sam Darnold out of the University of Southern California in 2018.
Although better than McCown, Kaepernick would have reeked “to the high heavens” in Gotham, too. Now, the Jets can truly evaluate Christian Hackenberg while simultaneously positioning themselves to enter the Sam Darnold sweepstakes.
Sorry, Spike Lee, but nothing is “MAD Fishy” in this particular instance. Colin Kaepernick simply wasn’t the right man to pilot the Jets.
-Colin Linneweber