After Zach Wilson’s recent manageable performance, the New York Jets signed a new quarterback on Tuesday. Meanwhile, it emerged that Colin Kaepernick had applied to the team.
The Jets had a decimated QB room after Aaron Rodgers’ injury. Behind new starter Zach Wilson, there was only Tim Boyle as a backup. That’s changing now, because as the Jets announced, they have signed Trevor Siemian to the practice squad.
Siemian (31) was a seventh-round pick by the Denver Broncos in 2015 and has since started a total of 30 games in the NFL, including one for the Jets in 2019. He was most recently under contract with the Bengals in the offseason, who released him before the start of the season.
Siemian even has more starter experience than Wilson (24 starts), but will be planned more as a backup after head coach Robert Saleh emphasized on Monday that Wilson would remain his “undisputed” starting quarterback.
New York Jets: Colin Kaepernick asks for job
Meanwhile, it came out on Monday that none other than Colin Kaepernick had offered himself to the Jets. This news was reported by rapper J Cole, who published a letter from Kaepernick to Jets general manager Joe Douglas dated September 21st with the quarterback’s consent.
Cole wrote on Instagram: “I asked Colin Kaepernick if I could share the letter with the world. He was initially reluctant. I then argued that people and all organizations should know the truth and know how hard he works and how much “He still wants to play and always wanted to. In the end he agreed with me.”
Kaepernick asked in the letter to be placed on the practice squad. Kaepernick wrote that he wanted to help the Jets after Aaron Rodgers’ serious injury and better prepare the defense for future opponents.
He has trained every weekday from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. for six years and wants to show that he is still a good quarterback – and thus give the Jets the chance to sign him permanently if he chooses convince and regular player Zach Wilson cannot play.
Kaepernick last played in the NFL for the 49ers in 2016. Since then, no team has wanted to hire him because of his kneeling during the national anthem to protest police violence against black people in the United States.
This is also why a commitment to the Jets was rather unlikely from the outset, after all, Jets team owner Woody Johnson is a supporter of former US President Donald Trump, who even made Johnson US ambassador to the United Kingdom during his term in office. Trump is considered an outspoken opponent of the protests led by Kaepernick and made this clear several times at the time.