XFL commissioner says Kaepernick was never a viable option: 'His salary demands are way out of our ballpark'
Colin Kaepernick has been without a team since 2017 after his very public protest against perceived police brutality and racial inequality in the US by kneeling during the national anthem, and it appears as though the XFL won't offer that opportunity either.
XFL league commissioner Oliver Luck ruled out the possibility of any team signing the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback to the Tampa Bay Times during a Q&A session, suggesting it wouldn't be possible due to his high wage demands.
"I think his salary demands are way out of our ballpark," he said. "He was never really a viable option."
While Luck did not detail what Kaepernick's demands were, any salary that the 32-year-old would get in the XFL, where the average player is expected to make $55,000 a year, would significantly pale in comparison to the one he drew in the NFL. Fox reported that Kaepernick made more than $43 million in the six seasons he spent in the NFL and that the last contract he signed in June 2014 was a six-year one that was worth an estimated $114 million.
After the 2016 season, during which he became a household name after he kneeled during the national anthem to protest perceived police brutality in the US, he had opted out his deal with his team and even declined a $16.9 million player option.
No NFL team has signed the quarterback since and he was most recently looked over once again following a highly-publicized and televised workout that had to be moved from an Atlanta Falcons training facility in Georgia to a high school stadium at the last minute.
Even on the off chance that he did give up his high salary demands and sign up for a team in the XFL, he would have to give up his protest and stand for the national anthem.
Vince McMahon, who owns the league through his Alpha Entertainment, has stated explicitly that only players who stood for the 'Star-Spangled Banner' would play, something Kaepernick has suggested he would never do.
When CBS Sport reported in October 2017 that he would stand for the anthem if given a chance in the NFL once again, Kaepernick responded with a tweet quoting Winston Churchill that read, "A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on."