While $10 million is a lot of money, it’s far less than was expected by unemployed quarterback Colin Kaepernick and Carolina Panthers safety Eric Reid in their grievance with the National Football League (NFL) over their claims that they were “blackballed” by the league for their divisive national anthem protests before the beginning of games.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) is reporting that the NFL settled its grievance cases with both Kaepernick and Reid for “less than $10 million.” Kaepernick, who hasn’t played in the NFL since 2016, filed his grievance in 2017.
Reid, who was Kaepernick’s teammate with the San Francisco 49ers for four seasons, filed his grievance in 2018 when he wasn’t immediately signed to a team for the beginning of last season. Reid signed with the Carolina Panthers a few weeks into the 2018 season, meaning he only missed three games.
According to the WSJ:
The league and attorneys for the players did not announce terms of the deal last month when they announced a settlement of the respective grievances. The parties said the agreement was subject to a confidentiality agreement and that there would be no further comment from any party. Details of the settlement have been tightly held among just a few league officials and Mr. Kaepernick’s attorneys.
If Mr. Kaepernick had won his grievance, the league’s collective bargaining agreement with its players would have entitled him to damages worth up to three times what an arbitrator determined he lost as a result of the collusion. If Mr. Kaepernick’s market value had been judged to be a total of $30 million over the two seasons he was sidelined—a ballpark price tag for a player of his caliber—he could have been awarded $90 million from the ruling.
If the league didn’t settle, it faced the possibility of costly litigation had Mr. Kaepernick lost and taken the case to court.
While Kaepernick and Reid received “less than $10 million,” it was significantly less than three times what they think they’re worth as players.
It was announced in mid-February that the NFL had settled “collusion lawsuits” by Kaepernick and Reid, but the details were scarce at the time:
BREAKING: NFL says it has settled collusion lawsuits by Colin Kaepernick, Eric Reid.
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 15, 2019
Kaepernick reportedly had opportunities to play for an NFL team in the past couple of seasons, including one opportunity with the Denver Broncos that Kaepernick allegedly turned down.
Kaepernick opted out of his deal with the San Francisco 49ers after the last season he played, which cost him $14.5 million for the 2017 season. Kaepernick also had an opportunity to play with the Baltimore Ravens, that latter of which was nullified after his racist girlfriend, Nessa Diab, posted a meme in a tweet basically calling the Ravens owner a slave master and the franchise’s all-time greatest player, Ray Lewis, his loyal slave.
Kaepernick reportedly had interest in playing for the Miami Dolphins after the team traded former franchise quarterback Ryan Tannehill to the Tennessee Titans on March 15. However, the prospects for a Kaepernick/Dolphins marriage took a hit when the team signed veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick earlier this week.
H/T: The Blaze