Oakland Raiders: Yeah, don’t bet the farm on Mark Geragos’ bluster

The Oakland Raiders are rumored to be interested in signing outcast quarterback Colin Kaepernick – but, you shouldn’t be the farm on it happening.

If you believe the chatter and buzz, the Oakland Raiders are in the market for a backup quarterback – even though they sent a late-round pick to Buffalo to acquire A.J. McCarron just before the season started.

Mark Geragos, the attorney representing both Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid – both out of the league as of this writing – was interviewed by TMZ recently, and dropped a hint that come next week, Kaepernick could indeed be wearing the Silver and Black.

Having never met a camera and microphone he didn’t like, Geragos, when questioned by the TMZ crew about his client, dropped a couple of hints about where Kaepernick could land – and soon.

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"“I would just say, ‘Stay tuned’ … that next week there may be some news. I’ll say this … if Al Davis was still alive.”"

Yeah, if Al Davis was still alive, he probably would have signed Kaepernick last season — if, for not other reason, than to give the double middle fingers to the league.

But, you know what they say — if my aunt had certain unnamed anatomical parts, she’d be my uncle.

Geragos also teased the possibility that Kaepernick could wind up in New England, backing up Tom Brady, suggesting the connection simply because Patriots owner Robert Kraft visited rapper Meek Mill in prison – and Mill apparently wrote a song about Kaepernick that will appear on his next album.

Tenuous connections – at best.

Oh, but the tea leave reading doesn’t stop there, and those folks connecting all of the very loosely connected dots, are putting the Raiders as the odds-on favorite to land Kaepernick because owner Mark Davis, gave Nike his thumbs up for signing Kaepernick to their campaign celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of their, “Just Do It,” ad campaign.

And just like that, a rumor was born.

Geragos has undoubtedly gotten what he wanted – attention. His name splashed all over the place. His face on TV. All of that. So, kudos to you for that, Mark. Well played.

But, before we start fitting Kaepernick for a Raiders helmet and jersey, let’s also recall that just this past May, Geragos was again, in front of the cameras, promising some big drama in the collusion case he’s representing Kaepernick and Reid in.

Let’s hop on in the wayback machine and remember when he said this:

"“I would stay tuned because this case is about to take a dramatic turn. Somebody has decided they were going to dime out the NFL for what they were doing.”"

This was in May, and yet, here we are in September, and we’re still waiting for that mysterious person to “dime out” the NFL. We’re still waiting for the smoking gun that proves collusion.

We’re not saying it doesn’t exist, we’re just saying that Geragos sure likes to have us, “stay tuned,” a lot, but then produces nothing. Which is probably what this Kaepernick to the Raiders or Patriots, mumbo-jumbo will amount to – a big nothingburger. Super sized. With extra fries.

Now, if you can put aside any and all political thought for just a minute, and disregard what you think and feel about Kaepernick’s stand on social issues, and look at it from a purely football-only perspective, you might come to the conclusion that Kaepernick to the Raiders might not be such a bad idea.

It’s hard to argue that Kaepernick wouldn’t be an upgrade over McCarron as Derek Carr‘s understudy – despite not having set foot on a field since 2016. After all, McCarron is the guy who couldn’t even beat out Nathan Peterman and rookie Josh Allen for the starting job in Buffalo. That factoid alone, should make fans embrace Kaepernick.

Let’s face it, Kaepernick has had his fair share of issues on the field, no question. He’s not a perfect passer by any means. But, he’s also had a tremendous amount of success, as well. For a time, he was going to be the face of the modern NFL.

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Kaepernick is a guy who flourished under Jim Harbaugh, leading the 49ers to two NFC title games and a Super Bowl appearance. Under Harbaugh, Kapernick was 25-14 – including that miserable 8-8 mark in Harbaugh’s final, soap opera-esque, team turmoil season in San Francisco (2014).

And then came Jim Tomsula (2015), who was followed by Chip Kelly (2016) – is it any wonder that not only did Kaepernick tank, but the entire franchise did as well? Did anybody do well with either of those guys at the helm?

And in speaking of Kelly – how is UCLA doing lately?

Had Jed York and Trent Baalke been able to control their own egos, and not torpedoed Harbaugh as the head coach, who knows how high the franchise could have gone? The sky literally was the limit for a team that looked like it was going to be a contender for years to come.

When things were running smoothly under Harbaugh (2012-13), Kaepernick appeared in 29 games with 23 starts over those two seasons. He completed 60 percent of his passes (379/634), for 5,011 yards, 31 touchdowns, against just 11 interceptions.

His QB rating was north of 90 both seasons, and he also added nearly another 1,000 yards, and nine touchdowns on the ground.

Kaepernick was solid as a quarterback – before the wheels fell off the Harbaugh Express, and the entire franchise turned into a three-alarm dumpster fire. But, if you’re going to pin all of the blame for San Francisco’s struggles in Harbaugh’s final season, as well as the immediate post-Harbaugh era, you’re just plain wrong.

Kaeprnick is big, strong, mobile, and – whether you choose to accept it or not – he can ball out. Having him backing up Carr would not only be the end of the world, it would be the biggest upgrade to the backup position the Raiders have had in a long, long time.

However – the likelihood that Kaepernick actually signs with the Raiders borders somewhere between slim and none. It wouldn’t be a bad signing, from a football-only perspective, but it’s very likely not going to happen.

You certainly wouldn’t want to bet the farm on it.

Mark Geragos got what he wanted – a little more ink for himself. But, it’s pretty safe to say that we can pump the brakes on the Kaepernick to the Raiders rumors as being just that – a rumor.

Or, you know, “stay tuned,” to see what happens.