Colin Kaepernick's Workout With Las Vegas Was a "Disaster," Ex-Raider Says

On the outside of the National Football League looking in since popularizing the trend of taking a knee during the playing of the national anthem in protest of racial inequality and police brutality, Colin Kaepernick has not taken an NFL snap since the 2016 season.

Despite that, the 34-year-old has maintained that he intends to continue to play pro football and went so far as to work out for the Las Vegas Raiders in late May. During the session, Kaepernick’s arm strength and conditioning stood out and the team considered the former Niner’s workout to be a “positive,” a source told ESPN in May.

Speaking during an interview with Vlad TV last week, former Raider Warren Sapp painted a completely different picture of how things went for Kaepernick during his session in front of Las Vegas head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler.

“I heard it was a disaster,” Sapp said. “I heard it was one of the worst workouts ever. I’m wondering how the hell this happened and the tape didn’t get out, right? I mean, somebody wasn’t over the fence or nothing? Come on, man. We live in a world right now where you can put a drone up and it ain’t like they can stop you.”

Sapp, who played for the Raiders when they were in Oakland from 2004 to 2007, seemingly wouldn’t have an axe to grind against Kaepernick, but he has shown some poor judgment in the past and probably shouldn’t be regarded as a 100% reliable source.

Kaepernick’s agent Jeff Nalley, who obviously is biased toward his client, predictably pushed back on Sapp’s claim.

“I guess Warren didn’t talk to the general manager or the head coach,” Nalley told ProFootballTalk via text. “I spoke to the G.M. [Zieger] several times and he said they all thought Kap was in great shape and threw the ball really well and encouraged any team to call him about the workout and he would tell them the same. I’m surprised Warren would say that because it’s not true and you would think he would want Kap on a team.”

If Kaepernick does get another shot in the NFL, odds are it won’t be with the Raiders as Las Vegas signed 31-year-old quarterback Derek Carr to a three-year, $121.5 million extension in May. The Raiders also have three quarterbacks on their depth chart behind him: former Patriot backup Jarrett Stidham, free-agent signing Nick Mullens and undrafted rookie Chase Garbers.

Prior to his workout for the Raiders, Kaepernick was brought in for a visit by the Seattle Seahawks in May 2017.