The timeline was curious, even if it was entirely coincidental.
On Monday, the Supreme Court opened the door for nationwide sports betting. Immediately, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban proclaimed that the value of each franchise in the four major sports leagues would double. Within a day, David Tepper put pen to paper on a purchase agreement that will result in payment of $2.275 billion for the Carolina Panthers.
Regardless, it feels like Tepper got a steal, especially if gambling generates the kind of revenue that will drive up the value of all NFL teams. And if Tepper is purchasing all of it himself, he possibly will be able to eventual sell half the equity, make all or most of the purchase price back, and continue to control the franchise.
The revelation appears to bolster Kaepernick’s collusion grievance against the league and NFL owners.
According to Pro Football Talk’s source, who purportedly has knowledge of the situation, internal franchise documents generated as part of the free-agency evaluation process and witness testimony in the collusion case say that Kaepernick was seen as a potential starting quarterback and not just an NFL-caliber QB.
Moreover, the report asserts, teams still view Kaepernick as a potential starter, which is counter to claims by teams that not signing him was a football-only decision.
Yet he remains unsigned — or, as he claims, blackballed from the NFL because of his kneeling during the national anthem as a form of protest against social and racial injustices. (Teams have admitted since the initial football-only talk that there are other considerations that have prevented them from signing Kaepernick.)