The 49ers will meet with quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s representatives this week in Indianapolis, according to league sources.
It’s unclear what will be discussed during the session. The 49ers will owe Kaepernick his full base salary of $11.9 million if he remains on the roster on April 1, which is only 39 days away.
Kaepernick had by far the roughest season of his career in 2015 and was replaced after eight games by Blaine Gabbert, who was better statistically than Kaepernick and who won three of his starts as opposed to two for Kaepernick.
Gabbert is set to cost far less than Kaepernick - a little more than $2 million - in 2016, although salary-cap space is not an issue for the 49ers, who will be more than $50 million below the cap when the new league year begins on March 9.
The 49ers could try to trade Kaepernick as they did three years ago with one-time starting quarterback Alex Smith. The deal with the Kansas City Chiefs came about during the combine, an event that brings together coaches, general managers and player agents in the city of Indianapolis.
The 49ers consistently have said the April 1 deadline is inconsequential and that their main concern is that Kaepernick, who led the team to the Super Bowl when he became a starter in 2012, recovers from the three surgeries he’s had since November. There has been no buzz about a trade to this point, an indication the 49ers have not yet surveyed potential partners about a possible deal. That, in turn, might suggest new coach Chip Kelly prefers to retain Kaepernick.
Kelly spoke carefully about his quarterback situation last month, stating that he was happy to have both Kaepernick and Gabbert and noting that teams need two starting-calibre quarterbacks on their rosters.
Meetings between team officials and the agents of prominent players are common and often perfunctory in Indianapolis. The 49ers, for example, also are expected to meet with the agents of their biggest free agents, a list that includes receiver Anquan Boldin, guard Alex Boone and nose tackle Ian Williams.
The 49ers’ top question for Kaepernick’s representatives likely is whether the quarterback wants to remain with the team. His three surgeries - to his left shoulder, left knee and right thumb - were performed by doctors in Vail, Colo., not by team doctors at Stanford Hospital. Kaepernick has chosen to go through his lengthy rehabilitation in Colorado, a move that strongly suggests he doesn’t trust the team.
Furthermore, the quarterback was bothered that national reports about his dubious locker-room leadership preceded his benching last season. Asked during the season whether he thought someone in the 49ers organization might be making him a scapegoat for the team’s awful season, Kaepernick said, “I really hope not. For me, I give everything I can to this organization.”
Kaepernick’s future with San Francisco may boil down to whether Kelly can convince him his best opportunity to reboot his career is with the 49ers.
The coach and quarterback met briefly last month at the team facility in Santa Clara and the two have spoken on the phone since. Kaepernick is on schedule as far as his recovery from his surgeries. He is expected to be ready some time in early April.