National Football League

Kaepernick: Shanahan and Lynch's first challenge

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 8:42 p.m. ET

Fansided, Douglas Totten/FanSided via Niner Noise

Colin Kaepernick will be the first challenge for the new duo at the helm of the San Francisco 49ers. Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch need a quarterback for next season. While Kaepernick is expected to opt out of his contract this offseason, Shanahan and Lynch could still decide he is worth keeping around and offer him a fresh start.

Now that Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch have signed on the dotted line and been officially welcomed as the new head coach and general manager of the San Francisco 49ers, the focus turns to what they will do with their new positions of power. Job number one will be evaluating Colin Kaepernick.

Kap is widely expected to opt out of his contract soon. Even if he does, he could theoretically return to San Francisco. Either way, Shanahan and Lynch will ultimately decide if they want him in a 49ers uniform next fall.

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With no great options in the draft and uncertainty in the free agency and trade markets, Shanahan was right to tell the press that he will “be watching a lot of tape” on Kap over the next few weeks, per NFL.com. Kaepernick has had success in the past and the new coach should see what assets he has available before changing the guard.

That said, the Shanahan-Lynch hire signals a break from the (recent) past. Holding onto Kaepernick would be like holding onto your ex-girlfriend’s letters a year later and reading them every Sunday just in case she changes her mind. For better or for worse, Kap’s time in San Francisco is over.

Kaepernick may yet have success elsewhere in the NFL — for his sake, I hope he does. But so long as he remains with the 49ers, both sides will continue to pull each other down. He deserves a fresh start as much as the 49er Faithful do. Taylor Swift may have some advice.

Unless the 49ers somehow land Kirk Cousins, Shanahan and Lynch remain unlikely to land their QB of the future for 2017. By virtue of their six-year contracts, that is more than fine — expectations are low for next season.

In fact, Shanahan and Lynch should not necessarily worry about their QB of the future this offseason. A stop-gap is fine. Shanahan and Lynch must remain much more concerned with the long-term future than next year, for which expectations remain incredibly low.