Kaepernick's attorney on NFL collusion case: We will have a smoking gun

[rogue emissary]

5. That's not the whole truth.

From the 49ers GM

The 49ers would've cut Colin Kaepernick if he hadn't opted out of his contract
by Will Brinson

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/the-49ers-wouldve-cut-colin-kaepernick-if-he-hadnt-opted-out-of-his-contract/

" . . . Many believed that Kaepernick was going to be released anyway had he not voluntarily removed himself from the roster and, in an interview with Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, 49ers GM John Lynch confirmed as much.

"Yes, and we had that conversation with him. So I don't want to characterize it as he made a decision to leave here. We both sat down and under that current construct of his deal, it was a big number," Lynch said. "Kyle [Shanahan] had a vision for what he wanted to do, and one thing I think Kyle was very clear and I think Colin appreciated, is that Kyle has an idea of how he'd play with Colin Kaepernick. But he preferred to run the exact offense that he ran in Atlanta last year that was record-breaking in this league. And if you change it for the quarterback, you change it for everybody on that offense. So he had a great discussion that I think gave Colin clarity, so we moved on.

Brian Hoyer was one of the guys we pursued. Once we pursued him, we didn't see Kap as a backup that would really fit in that scheme and we communicated that to him. So I think we've been very up front with it. But I think that is a fair characterization. Yes, he was not going to be here under the construct of his contract. We gave him the option: 'You can opt out, we can release you, whatever.' And he chose to opt out, but that was just a formality." . . .