Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said Friday that he believes quarterback Colin Kaepernick is “a starter in this league,” but he isn’t going to be a backup in Seattle at the moment.
Kaepernick visited with the Seahawks recently in the first sign of possible interest in his services since Kaepernick became a free agent earlier this year. Carroll said it was a “very productive” meeting and that “the doors are always open to opportunities,” but that the Seahawks are standing pat at the backup quarterback position for the time being.
“Colin’s been a fantastic football player and he’s going to continue to be,” Carroll said. “At this time, we didn’t do anything with it. We know where he is, who he is and we had a chance to understand him much more so. He’s a starter in this league and I can’t imagine somebody won’t give him a chance to play.”
In a follow-up question, Carroll was asked if he thought Kaepernick’s decision to kneel during the national anthem last year was the reason why a starter-level quarterback remained unsigned. He said “that’s not my issue” before saying the Seahawks were comfortable that they know what they’re doing at the position.
Trevone Boykin and Jake Heaps are currently on the roster as backups to Russell Wilson.