The Baltimore Ravens staff and front office reportedly like Colin Kaepernick. However, they’re facing resistance from owner Steve Bisciotti.
Going into the 2017 NFL season, the Baltimore Ravens have multiple people in their organization with jobs on the line. Two of them are head coach John Harbaugh and general manager Ozzie Newsome. Both of them expressed a desire to consider bringing in Colin Kaepernick, especially given the uncertain nature of Joe Flacco’s back injury. However, the franchise is reportedly facing resistance from owner Steve Bisciotti on this issue.
Ravens HC John Harbaugh & GM Ozzie Newsome support signing Colin Kaepernick, but have met resistance from owner Steve Bisciotti per sources
— Dianna Russini (@diannaESPN) August 2, 2017
Harbaugh brought up Kaepernick in a training camp press conference unprovoked. This suggests he’s quite sincere in his desire to bring him in. Perhaps Ryan Mallett’s terrible training camp performance is a reason for Harbaugh’s support. With his job on the line, Newsome likely doesn’t want to take any chances either. At this point, Kaepernick couldn’t be much worse than Mallet. Even in a worst case scenario, the former would likely be cheaper than the latter.
Usually, Bisciotti removes himself from the day to day operations of the football team. He tends to leave those duties to the people he hires to take care of them. So it’s a bit weird for Bisciotti to be inserting himself in this situation.
Kaepernick’s signing would likely not be a very popular move with the fans. However, at some point, Bisciotti has to stop thinking about what the fans think and start thinking about what’s best for the team. The opinions of the fans and the front office are often at odds, for a variety of reasons. But if the Ravens sincerely believe Kaepernick can help the team, Bisciotti should go ahead and approve the move.
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The players have been open to bringing in the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback. Usually, Biscotti deserves the benefit of the doubt because of the Ravens track record with him as an owner. However, he might lose that trust if he continues to overrule the opinion of his coaches and front office.