Colin Kaepernick has largely stayed out of NFL headlines for nearly a decade now. Yet one specific detail from his past keeps resurfacing whenever his name comes up. Back in 2022, the Las Vegas Raiders quietly brought him in for a private workout.
It marked his first genuine shot with any franchise since his exile from professional football began. Recently, Kaepernick opened up about that day and what it truly meant for his hopes of a comeback. His comments arrive just as he prepares to release a new memoir revisiting his career.
A rare visit ended a long silence
Kaepernick last played an NFL game during the 2016 regular season with the 49ers. He became a free agent in 2017 and never signed with another NFL team. After the 2016 season, he received limited opportunities to return to the league.
The Raiders workout came nearly six years after Kaepernick’s last NFL appearance and marked his first NFL team workout since 2016. His previous known NFL team visit was with the Seattle Seahawks in May 2017, before Seattle decided not to sign him.
In May 2022, the Raiders reached out and brought him in for a workout. It was his first NFL team workout since 2016 and became his most significant opportunity to return to the league.
Why the Raiders decided to take a look
Raiders owner Mark Davis had publicly supported giving Kaepernick another opportunity. Before the workout, Davis said Kaepernick “deserves every chance in the world” to become an NFL quarterback and said he would welcome him if the team’s coaches and general manager wanted him.
Head coach Josh McDaniels was leading the Raiders that offseason, while Dave Ziegler was the team’s general manager. Both were in attendance for Kaepernick’s private workout at the Raiders’ facility.
At the time, Derek Carr was the Raiders’ established starter, with Jarrett Stidham, Nick Mullens and Chase Garbers also in the quarterback group. Kaepernick was being considered as a potential addition to that group.
What happened during the actual workout
The session took place privately at the Raiders’ facility, with few details released publicly. Reports about the workout came from sources familiar with the session and from people covering the team.
The Raiders had not held a team workout with Kaepernick since his last NFL season in 2016. Post-session reports indicated that his arm strength and conditioning stood out.
ESPN reported that the Raiders considered the workout positive, while other reports said Kaepernick showed that he remained in good physical condition and retained his arm strength after years away from the NFL.
Reports on the workout began to conflict
Albert Breer reported that Kaepernick’s workout went well, although he did not “blow everyone away.” Breer also said Kaepernick showed that he was in shape and that his arm strength remained intact after five seasons away from the NFL.
ESPN reported that Kaepernick’s arm strength and conditioning stood out during the workout. The network described the session as positive, but said no signing was imminent.
Those reports offered a generally positive assessment while stopping short of suggesting that Kaepernick had secured a contract or guaranteed a return to the NFL.
Warren Sapp offered a very different account
Hall of Fame defensive lineman Warren Sapp later shared his own separate version of events. He claimed he had heard the workout did not actually go very well at all. His blunt comments stood in sharp contrast to those earlier, more positive reports.
Sapp never fully explained exactly where his specific information had originally come from. Sapp’s account differed from the more positive reports published immediately after the workout. The claim remained unconfirmed even years after he first made it.
These conflicting accounts added real confusion to an already secretive and closely guarded process. Neither the Raiders organization nor Kaepernick himself ever clarified what had truly happened. That lasting silence allowed both competing versions of the story to survive publicly.
The workout closed without any real follow-up
Several weeks passed after the workout without any meaningful public update from either side. The Raiders organization eventually stuck with their existing group of quarterbacks already on the roster. Stidham and Mullens were among the quarterbacks competing for the backup role behind Carr.
McDaniels declined to provide detailed public comments about Kaepernick’s workout. He said the team would only discuss players who were currently signed to its roster. That guarded answer left plenty of room for ongoing public speculation.
No formal contract offer ever followed the private session in the months that came after. The Raiders’ decision effectively ended what remains his most promising chance in years.
A new memoir revisits that missed chance
Kaepernick recently addressed the Raiders workout once again during a new detailed interview. He called it the closest he had ever come to landing another real NFL opportunity. He also confirmed that nothing ultimately came from that closely watched private session.
His recent comments arrive ahead of his upcoming memoir titled The Perilous Fight. The book is scheduled for release in September of 2026 through the publisher Legacy Lit. The book arrives almost exactly 10 years after Kaepernick first knelt during the national anthem.
The publisher describes the project as equal parts memoir and manifesto in its summary. The memoir explores the experiences and beliefs that led to his 2016 national anthem protest. Kaepernick has said he wanted to finally explain what truly led to that moment.
What this story says about his legacy
At 38, Kaepernick has not played in the NFL since the 2016 season. The Raiders’ workout was his most significant NFL team opportunity since leaving the league. That single quiet afternoon still shapes much of how his public story gets told.
He wants to spend his energy on work that genuinely helps build a better shared future. He has said that people will ultimately decide what his own legacy becomes.
The mystery surrounding that 2022 workout may honestly never be fully solved. Conflicting reports mean fans still openly debate how well he actually performed that day. His upcoming memoir may finally offer his own personal account of exactly what happened.
Little-known fact: The Chicago Cubs drafted him in the 43rd round of the 2009 MLB Draft, but he chose football instead.
TL;DR
- Kaepernick worked out privately for the Raiders in May 2022.
- It was his first NFL team workout since 2016, following a 2017 visit with the Seahawks.
- Reports about his performance were generally positive but differed on how impressive the workout was.
- The Raiders did not sign him after the session.
- Kaepernick is revisiting his NFL career and the events surrounding his departure from the league in The Perilous Fight.
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This article was made with AI assistance and human editing.
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