Kaepernick getting more work with first-team offense?

Whenever Kirk Cousins' name comes up in trade rumors, San Francisco 49ers fans seem to let out a collective groan. That's the reaction caused by Peter King's latest column where he speculates what it might take for a team to acquire quarterback Deshaun Watson from the Houston Texans. More on the Cousins portion in a minute. Kirk Larrabee covered what King feels the 49ers might need to surrender to acquire Watson, and it is a hefty price. The NFL writer has San Francisco shipping quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, linebacker Fred Warner, tackle Mike McGlinchey, this year's first-round pick, 2022's first-round pick, this year's second-round pick, and a third-round pick in

Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk's mother is a San Francisco 49ers fan. She was a fan even before her favorite team drafted her son. "My mom has been a huge 49ers fan her whole life," Aiyuk told reporters shortly after being drafted, "so that kind of bled on me a little bit when I was younger." Aiyuk was asked if that fandom stuck with him throughout his childhood. "So, I wouldn't say a fan throughout," he responded. "I just kind of just move with players. But, definitely, when I was younger, I was rolling with the 49ers because of my mom." Aiyuk and his girlfriend, Rochelle, had a son, Braylon, in September. Now that Aiyuk is a father,

NFL Media senior analyst Gil Brandt took a look at the eight most-likely candidates to go from worst to first and enjoy a Washington Football Team-type turnaround during the 2021 season. Washington won just three games in 2019 and then increased that total by four in 2020. Seven victories aren't overly impressive, but in a season during which the NFC East was downright awful, it was enough to earn the division crown. At the top of Brandt's ranking are the San Francisco 49ers. Kyle Shanahan's squad was in the Super Bowl just over a year ago, but injuries devastated the roster, and the depth chart was transformed by Week 2, resulting in just six wins. Then

It's been the better part of a decade since Alex Smith and Colin Kaepernick were part of the same quarterback room with the San Francisco 49ers, but Smith still sounds as impressed as ever with what he experienced on and off the field when the two of them were teammates. Smith spoke for almost an hour this week on Kaepernick and a number of other subjects during a guest spot on the 10 Questions With Kyle Brandt Podcast (click here to listen). Smith, who was the starting quarterback for the 49ers when Kaepernick was selected in Round 2 of the 2011 NFL Draft, told Brandt he remembered Kaepernick as a "great dude" who brought an impressive work ethic to the NFL right out of the gate. "We were doing workouts