Very recently, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson revealed how the XFL made a pitch to quarterback Colin Kaepernick (and his agent) to join the league, but they were not interested.
“We met with Kap and his agents (whom I like a lot) earlier this year. Good meeting, looked to create an opportunity for him but I don’t think it’ll happen. We’ll see,” Dwayne Johnson said in a comment on social media.
Kaepernick, who last played in the NFL in 2016, doesn’t appear to have interest in playing in a different league.
Looking back to 2020, Kaepernick may have joined the XFL but his price tag was too high.
In February of 2019, Sporting News reported Kaepernick made it known he wanted “at least $20 million” to play in the XFL. Dan Greene of Sports Illustrated spoke with former XFL commissioner Oliver Luck in March of 2019, and the $20 million figure was brought up.
“That’s a little bit out of our range,” said Luck. “I think his salary demands are way out of our ballpark, he was never really a viable option.”
Meanwhile, the CFL’s British Columbia Lions decided to entertain the idea of adding Colin Kaepernick’s name on their negotiation list.
On September 28, 2023, TSN‘s Farhan Lalji reported the Lions had added Kaepernick’s name to their negotiation list, thus securing the pivot’s CFL rights. However, Lions co-general manager Neil McEvoy told 3DownNation there had not been any conversations with the player or his representatives about bringing Kaepernick north of the border.
“Much like everyone on our neg list, we have made no contact with him and are not looking to bring another QB in.”
This is Kaepernick’s second stint on the Lions’ list, as former general manager Wally Buono was the first to claim his rights while he was still at the University of Nevada. After being dropped of B.C.’s list, he had been claimed on two separate occasions by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and once by the Montreal Alouettes.
CFL teams are allowed to claim exclusive rights for up to 45 players by placing them on their negotiation list.
