Matt Maiocco of CSN Bay Area joined "Joe, Lo & Dibs" on 95.7 The Game to discuss, among other things, the quarterback situation with the San Francisco 49ers. Maiocco was asked if it was a forgone conclusion that Colin Kaepernick will leave via free agency or if Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, once he becomes the head coach, would want to sit down with the quarterback and work out a way for him to remain with the 49ers.
Kaepernick is signed for the 2017 season, but he has the option to void his contract and become a free agent in March. It is an option that he is expected to take advantage of.
"I just don't see it being a realistic option – or I should say a realistic conclusion – that a new coach coming into a situation that is attractive to him because it's a teardown, a new general manager coming into a situation that's attractive to him because he's matched with a head coach and it's a teardown, you have a lot of draft pick capital, you have a lot of cap space, around $80 million, and you've been told you have carte blanche to organize this thing however you want, assemble your own staff, both coaching staff and player personnel, you have carte blanche on the roster – I just don't see that two new people coming in would say, 'Okay, we're tearing it all down, but we're going to keep the quarterback,'" Maiocco said. "I don't see anyone doing that. Is it possible? Yes, but I just don't see new people coming in would want the residue of the past – the quarterback who played most of the games last year on a team that was 2-14.
"I would think they would want to go out, find what's available, whether it's in the trade market, free agency, add somebody in the draft. I think that is probably the more likely scenario that they kind of start new at the quarterback position."
The 49ers had two other quarterbacks on the 53-man roster in 2016. They were Blaine Gabbert, who was the starting quarterback to kick off the season, and Christian Ponder, who did not play. Neither are under contract for 2017.
Maiocco was then asked about the 49ers possibly being interested in Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins, who is scheduled to become a free agent. However, Washington could place the franchise tag on Cousins and keep him for another year at the cost of about $24 million. A team interested in Cousins would then have to give up two first round selections for the quarterback. Under that scenario, a team could still attempt to trade for Cousins at a lower cost.
Kyle Shanahan was the offensive coordinator in Washington when the team drafted Cousins in 2012 out of Michigan State. In 2016, Cousins had the best season of his career, completing 67-percent of his passes for 4,917 yards and throwing 25 touchdowns compared to 12 interceptions. In 2015, Cousins threw 29 touchdowns while completing nearly 70-percent of his passes.
"I would say it's 100-percent that they will kick the tires (on Cousins)," Maiocco said. The 49ers insider went on to say that he cannot see San Francisco giving up two first round selections for Cousins. After all, they have the second overall pick in 2017 and are likely to have a pretty good pick in 2018.
"I would say it's 100-percent that the 49ers would at least make that phone call and see what the possibilities are of trying to acquire Kirk Cousins and then, once they see the price tag, then they determine if it's reasonable for the organization moving forward," Maiocco continued. "They would also, of course, once you acquire him, you'd have to give him the kind of contract that he's looking for to make him one of the – if not the – highest paid quarterback in the NFL. I guess the 49ers have a lot of cap room. That wouldn't hurt them on the short-term, but it's a glaring need and I'm positive that they would at least explore it."
You can listen to the entire interview on 95.7 The Game.
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