Colin Kaepernick shows off rocket arm in new video, gets rave review from Seahawks star: ‘He’s ready’

It’s been more than five years since Colin Kaepernick has thrown a pass to an NFL receiver, but that changed on Monday when the former 49ers quarterback met up with Seattle’s Tyler Lockett for a throwing session and apparently, Kaepernick still has what it takes to play in the NFL, at least according to to the Seahawks receiver. 

Kaepernick and Lockett were spotted at a Suns game in Phoenix on Sunday night and presumably, that’s where they met up for their practice session, which went down on Monday. 

After the two players practiced together, Lockett jumped on Twitter and wrote that “Kap is ready.” 

So what exactly did Lockett find so impressive about the former NFL quarterback? Well, you can make that judgment for yourself because Kaepernick shared a video of the throwing session on Twitter. 

In the 60-second video, the 34-year-old made multiple impressive throws. Even though he hasn’t taken an NFL snap in more than five years, it definitely seems like Kaepernick hasn’t lost any arm strength. 

Kaepernick also showed off his deep ball later in the workout. 

Although it’s easy to point out that Kaepernick is throwing against air and isn’t dealing with any defenders, Lockett practices in situations like that all the time, so if he thinks Kaepernick still has it, then that might be enough for an NFL team to at least think about giving the quarterback a call. 

Even though the odds seem stacked against a Kaepernick return, one team that could make sense is the Seahawks. For one, Kaepernick just got a rave review from one of their star receivers. Also, let’s not forget that the Seahawks are currently looking for a quarterback. If Pete Carroll talks to Lockett about his practice session with Kaepernick, it wouldn’t be completely surprising to see the Seahawks possibly reach out. Also, let’s not forget, the Seahawks were the ONE team that reached out to Kaepernick during his five years away from the NFL after he was basically blackballed following his decision to kneel for the national anthem. 

Kaepernick actually visited with the Seahawks in May 2017, but they ultimately decided not to sign him. Kaepernick then had another visit scheduled with the Seahawks in April 2018, but that one got canceled for unknown reasons. According to Mike Silver of Bally Sports, the Seahawks stayed away from Kaepernick because they didn’t want Russell Wilson to feel threatened in the locker room.

With Wilson out of the picture, the Seahawks might be more open to giving Kaepernick a shot, but that’s only if he has anything left in the tank and it appears he might even though he’s been out of the NFL for more than five years. 

As recently as 2020, Carroll seemed open to the idea of adding Kaepernick to the Seahawks’ roster. 

Kaepernick has been out of the NFL since March 2017 with teams deciding to stay away from him after he decided to start protesting against racial injustice and police brutality against minorities by kneeling during the national anthem, which he started doing in August 2016.  

The quarterback hasn’t taken an NFL snap since the 49ers’ 2016 regular season finale that was played on January 1, 2017. During his time in San Francisco, Kaepernick thrived under Jim Harbaugh, going 25-14 as a starter while also leading the 49ers to the Super Bowl in 2012. However, he struggled after Harbaugh left, going just 3-16 with Jim Tomsula (2015) and Chip Kelly (2016). 

After five seasons away from the NFL, Kaepernick has made it clear that he wants to return. 

Oh, and if you’re wondering how the practice session with Kaepernick and Lockett came together, it all happened on Twitter. To keep his accuracy sharp, Kaepernick has been throwing to his trainer for the past five years and since he’s now serious about returning to the NFL, the 34-year-old thought it was time to make an upgrade at receiver, so he took to Twitter over the weekend looking for some help. 

Less than 10 minutes after sending out the tweet, Lockett responded and let Kaepernick know that he’d be more than happy to run routes for him. 

Kaepernick was clearly thrilled to see someone volunteer so quickly, because less than 30 minutes later, the former NFL quarterback said he was going to meet up with Lockett for a throwing session on Monday, which is a pretty quick turn around considering these tweets were all sent out on Sunday. 

The two clearly coordinated quickly, because they were able to set up their throwing session in less than 24 hours. Basically, it sounds like Kaepernick would be willing to be on the next flight to any NFL city if one of the league’s 32 teams is willing to give him a tryout.