Colin Kaepernick will not be taking his talents to the XFL due to a salary request that is higher than they can afford.
Over the weekend, the XFL had its first week and the free-agent quarterback was noticeably missing. The league of eight teams will play a 10-week regular season and a two week postseason consisting of two semifinal playoff games and a championship game.
“We gave it some thought,” XFL Commissioner Oliver Luck said to NPR. “We have some pretty significant salary restrictions. We’re a start-up league, so we want to make sure that we can be fiscally responsible and fiscally prudent. And the salary requirements that some folks, shared with us were in our case exorbitant, so we, couldn’t go down that path.”
Luck also expressed that he wasn’t sure if the league would change its stance on Kaepernick even if he lowered his salary demands.
In 2016, Kaepernick’s kneeling protest during his time in the NFL became a hot button topic. The former 49ers quarterback opted out of his contract in 2017 and became a free agent.
“Players have numerous opportunities to express themselves with all the platforms that exist today,” Luck said. “So, you know, standing for the national anthem we believe is a part of their responsibility as players in our league. But we think it’s important to have that — you know, that requirement for our players.”
In November 2019, he worked out in Atlanta in front of NFL teams but none picked him up.
