When Colin Kaepernick opted out of his contract with the 49ers back on March 1, he probably didn't think that he'd still be a free agent after four months on the market. However, that's now the reality of the situation.
Despite the fact that he's received solid endorsements from some of the best coaching minds in the game of football -- including John Harbaugh, Jim Harbaugh and most recently, Chip Kelly -- Kaepernick still remains unsigned.
Not only has he remained unsigned, but he's also not garnering much interest. In the four months since he's opted out of his contract, Kaepernick has only taken one official visit, which came with the Seahawks back in May.
In that same period, several quarterbacks -- who are arguably worse than Kaepernick -- have signed free agent contracts, including Mark Sanchez, Josh McCown, Brian Hoyer, Matt Barkley, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Blaine Gabbert and Case Keenum.
So what's keeping Kaepernick from getting a job?
Surprisingly, 49ers general manager John Lynch doesn't think it really has anything to do with the quarterback's decision to protest police brutality and racial injustice by kneeling for the national anthem last year.
Instead, Lynch has another theory: Teams are avoiding Kaepernick because they're not sure he's committed to football.
During a recent interview with KNBR radio in the Bay Area, Lynch revealed what he told Kaepernick during a recent conversation between the two.
"I think, you are having a little bit of an image crisis in terms of not so much what you did last year, but people are wondering, is this most important to you, at a position where the guys that succeed at that position are the guys that live it, breathe it, the CEOs that play that position," Lynch said, via Niners Nation.
Lynch also explained the one big thing he believes Kaepernick needs to do to get a job.
"I think there is a perception that football's not on the top of his list," Lynch said. "And so, my communication with Colin was that your best effort, I think the way you could best help yourself is to not have someone talk for you, not have statements, but go sit down and do an interview, and let people know exactly where you stand."
On one hand, it's a fair point. Kaepernick has been silent over the past four months, which might lead some teams to believe that he's not talking because he's focusing on his cause over football.
On the other hand, there might be a reason he's not talking. Kaepernick might not want to plead his case in the media because he thinks it might make more sense to show teams how serious he is about football during a potential tryout. Unfortunately, teams aren't giving him that tryout, so it's impossible for him to show them how serious he is about playing.
Either way, Lynch says that teams just need to hear from Kaepernick.
"He makes a compelling case as to how bad he wants to be in the league when you talk to him," Lynch said. "And so, I'll leave it at that, but we did have those discussions and I think that would help him."
As for the perception that Kaepernick might be more committed to his cause than football, Lynch isn't necessarily buying that. The 49ers first-year general manager said he believes Kaepernick is absolutely committed to playing in the NFL.
"I would tell you with my conversations with Colin, he is fully committed to wanting to be in this league," Lynch said.
It's definitely interesting to hear Lynch talk about the Kaepernick situation because he's one of the very few NFL front office members that has been willing to talk about it. There's also a good chance that he's talked to multiple executives in the league, which means when he says there's a "perception" that Kaepernick isn't focused on football, that perception could very well be coming from Lynch's conversations with front office members from other teams.
If Lynch is right about the NFL's perception of Kaepernick, then apparently, all the quarterback needs to do to get signed is convince everyone that he's serious about playing football.
