The new Colin Kaepernick key offseason date is April 28.

That's what the San Jose Mercury News believes will be the new deadline for a resolution between the quarterback and the San Francisco 49ers.

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Multiple reports have indicated that the Denver Broncos have suggested sending a fourth-round pick to the 49ers for Kaepernick while San Francisco wants a second-rounder.

But the key issue for the Broncos may not be compensation to the 49ers; it may be compensation to Kaepernick, according to 247sports.com.

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"The 28-year-old has a $15.89 million cap hit in 2016. His base salary of $11.9 million becomes guaranteed on Friday, which is why some see that as such an important date. The Nevada product's cap number can only be reduced by so much after that date.

"The Broncos have slightly more than $2 million in cap space available. That number will climb to more than $10 million once the club trades or releases left tackle Ryan Clady, but it must save about $6 million of that for the draft pool. That's why the six-year, $114 million deal Kaepernick inked with San Francisco two years ago poses a major problem."

That leaves Denver about $6 million to sign Kaepernick for 2016, $10 million short of his current salary

The counter-argument from Kaepernick's camp, however, could be that the Broncos were willing to offer Brock Osweiler a three-year deal with about $15 million per year and should be willing to structure a deal that guarantees Kaepernick still will get a large portion of the money from the contract he signed with the 49ers.

The Mercury News insisted that the 49ers, though in control of Kaepernick's future, must part ways with the disgruntled quarterback.

"They have to move Kaepernick eventually, probably at draft time, whether it's a surrender, a success, or just complete exhaustion," the Mercury News reported.

That seemingly gives ultimate power, eventually, to the Broncos.

"However, Denver isn't in control of this at the moment and apparently isn't offering enough -- or possibly anything involving picks from April's draft," the Mercury News reported. "There is no rush for Denver to up its bid right now; why not wait it out to see if the 49ers will flinch?"

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