NFL rules would not allow Colin Kaepernick to help Broncos hit by COVID-19

The Denver Broncos with no quarterbacks available on Sunday may have been seen as the perfect opportunity for Colin Kaepernick to play in the NFL again.

But that was never a possibility, as league rules require acquired players to remain in COVID-19 isolation for six days before joining their new squad.

Denver will instead look to wide receiver Kendall Hinton, starting three for Wake Forest, after learning that none of their quarterbacks would be eligible against the Saints.

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Jeff Driskel tested positive for the virus on Thursday and was later considered to have had close contact with others, not giving the team enough time to call Kaepernick.

Then again, Denver, which hasn’t had a reliable quarterback since Peyton Manning in 2016, could have contacted Kaepernick during the three years the 33-year-old was left out of the league.

Broncos legend and general manager John Elway said in 2018 he would not consider signing Kaepernick due to both sides’ failure to reach a deal in 2016: Kaepernick “had a chance to be here” Elway told reporters at the time.

Kaepernick, a former second-round pick, tweeted last week that he was “still working” to get his first NFL job since his withdrawal from a contract with the 49ers in 2017.

“1,363 days of job refusals,” wrote the quarterback who nearly led the 49ers to a Super Bowl title in 2013.

Kaepernick was catapulted into the national spotlight again this summer, as professional athletes followed his lead by kneeling for the national anthem and protesting police brutality and racial injustice as the country relied on racism .

He had previously alleged that the NFL and his owners blackballed him because of his social causes, and both sides reached an undisclosed settlement in 2019.

Commissioner Roger Goodell said this summer that he supported a team signing Kaepernick and wished they had “listened” to Kaepernick’s post sooner.

Kaepernick later accused the NFL of doing “propaganda about how she cares about black life.”