Unfortunately, the football side of Colin Kaepernick has never been the divisive point of his career. Kaep set news headlines ablaze back in 2016 when he started kneeling during the National Anthem before games, and he hasn’t played a down in the NFL since that season concluded.
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Despite other players following suit and continuing with the trend after the 2016 season, Kaepernick was the one who was often the most-vilified for the trend.
Some fans stopped watching the NFL due to the increased coverage that the kneeling was receiving, and that trend looks primed to continue in 2020 as an unprecedented number of players will likely start taking a knee during the anthem. This is obviously not an unprovoked action given the current events.
Still, Kaepernick’s reinstatement into the NFL has received support from NFL commissioner Rodger Goodell and even from President Donald Trump. However, the latter still stands behind his belief that players should kneel during the anthem.
This increase in support from the figures in authority as well as the likely uptick in overall kneeling points to the scenario that Kaepernick gets another shot in the NFL, and the Bucs should make sure that said shot will be with them.
While the Buccaneer organization has its faults, Bruce Arians has pushed one singular message throughout his time with the organization: he wants the best players and the best staff to give the team the best opportunity to win a Super Bowl.
This singular vision has allowed the Buccaneers to become one of the first organizations to put together one of the most diverse coaching staffs in the NFL, and that vision should also apply to players on the team.
Like it or not, the smart money is on numerous Buccaneer players kneeling during the 2020 season, so why should Colin Kaepernick not get the chance to help improve the team by serving as a capable backup to Brady?
If the true goal is to win the Super Bowl, the only way that this move can detract from that purpose is if Kaepernick wants too much money to sign. His market may be bigger than most fans think, and acting sooner rather than later could benefit the Bucs’ cap space.
By making this move, the Buccaneers are virtually risking nothing and have everything to gain. As previously stated, the talent would be an immediate improvement, and the job could still be won in training camp.
The Bucs would only improve their Super Bowl odds by signing Colin Kaepernick, and by doing this, they would stay true to the precedent that Bruce Arians is actively setting in Tampa Bay.