The 49ers announced that Colin Kaepernick will be their starting quarterback for the season opener in 2016.
Well, all but.
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The 49ers did announce that they will retain Kaepernick and pay him his $11.9 million base salary for 2016 that is due to him on April 1, according to multiple media reports.
San Francisco's hiring of Chip Kelly after the 2015 season suggested to many pundits that the 49ers were bringing in the offensive coaching guru to help Kaepernick return to his 2012-13 form that helped the team contend for Super Bowl championships.
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But amid a report that Kaepernick wanted to take his talents to the Jets, other reports surfaced that the quarterback's relationship with the 49ers front office was beyond repair.
General manager Trent Baalke was asked whether Kaepernick would be named the starting quarterback or still would have to compete with Blaine Gabbert, who replaced an ineffective Kaepernick midway through the 2015 season.
"I think the good thing is we've got two guys that have gone into games who've proven they can play," Baalke said, according to ESPN, "and Colin's done some awful good things through his career, won some big games for the San Francisco 49ers, and [we] expect him to come back."
The 49ers GM then became a bit defensive when asked about the reported disconnect between the team and Kaepernick after he was benched last season.
"I don't know where all the information is coming from, because it's not coming from myself or anyone else in the organization," Baalke said, according to the San Jose Mercury News.
Baalke then turned dismissive when asked about the possibility that Kaepernick -- who would be the team's highest player -- might not start.
"Wouldn't be the first time in history," Baalke said. "Once again, you're creating a lot of speculation over nothing. Let's get these guys in here and go to work."
Sure.
A team with such a dramatic fall since its Super Bowl appearance just three years ago is not going to pay a player -- any player, much less a quarterback -- $11.9 million and then not start him.
Kaepernick will start until he proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that he shouldn't be the starter anymore.
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