Four NFL decision-makers tell why Kaepernick is not a fit for their teams

Three NFL team executives and one coach say Colin Kaepernick simply didn't fit their football programs; it had nothing to do with his national anthem protest.

Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated’s MMQB spoke to decision-makers from four NFL teams with quarterback question marks. In Breer’s article published Thursday, the executives and the coach, who are not named, discuss the reasons why they never really considered employing the ex-49ers quarterback.

Kaepernick, a graduate of Turlock’s Pitman High School, opted out of his Niners contract in early March and became an unrestricted free agent. The San Francisco team had planned to release him, anyways.

The quarterback remains unsigned five months later with the start of the NFL season just several days away. The reasons why Kaepernick is still unemployed continues to be a hotly debated issue.

One NFL team executive said: "Certainly he’s good enough to be a backup. … But we have a good No. 2, a guy that fits our system that we have familiarity with,” according to Breer’s article.

Another executive said: “To me, the protests, all that, it wasn’t even a factor for us. It was the ability to fit within our offense,” according to the article.

This story was originally published August 31, 2017 at 11:46 AM with the headline "Four NFL decision-makers tell why Kaepernick is not a fit for their teams."