When Hue Jackson became the head coach of the Browns in January 2016, the quarterback situation was still being worked out.
Johnny Manziel was gone, and the Browns were in need of a new starting quarterback.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Gary Gramling and Conor Orr, Jackson was initially interested in signing Colin Kaepernick while he was on trade block with the 49ers.
Jackson was initially interviewed by the 49ers, but since he got the Browns job, he wanted to get Kaepernick on the Cleveland roster. The plan never came to fruition.
It’s unclear why the Browns didn’t pursue Kaepernick, but the quarterback was dealing with a left shoulder injury that required surgery after the 2015 season and made him miss the last few weeks of the season. He wasn’t throwing footballs again until May 2016.
Instead, the Browns signed Robert Griffin III in March from Washington. Then, in April’s 2016 NFL draft, the team picked USC quarterback Cody Kessler.
Griffin only played in five games that season due to a shoulder injury. Kessler struggled in eight starts.
Kaepernick’s 2016 season, on the other hand, ended up being his last NFL season. The Browns and 49ers ended up with similar records in 2016: Cleveland finished 1–15, while San Francisco finished 2–14.
Jackson claimed in February that the team gave him incentives to lose games in the ’16 and ’17 seasons. The league opened an investigation into the allegations in April and announced Monday that it could not substantiate his claims.
Kaepernick is now potentially sparking interest from various NFL teams. He’s hosted multiple workouts this summer, but no offers have been made.
