Talks between former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick and the XFL broke down because Kaepernick’s salary requirements exceeded what any of the eight teams in the league were willing to pay him.
“We have some pretty significant salary restrictions,” XFL Commissioner Oliver Luck told NPR over the weekend. “We’re a startup league, so we want to make sure that we can be fiscally responsible and fiscally prudent.”
Launched this year, the XFL is a professional football league with eight teams in major media markets across the country. The league held its opening slate of games over two days last weekend.
“We spoke with his representative, and the salary requirements that were broached in that conversation were exorbitant and certainly out of our range,” Luck said of Kaepernick.
Kaepernick retired from the NFL following the 2016 season after sparking a nationwide debate about police brutality and systemic racism in America, a topic he had been outspoken on in press conferences and on social media. Most famously, he and some teammates on the San Francisco 49ers knelt during the national anthem before games in protest of the mistreatment of black people by police and the government.
On the American flag and what it symbolizes, Kaepernick said, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.”
The protests, which spread among players on other teams across the NFL, were decried by some veterans and eventually by President Trump as insensitive and unpatriotic.
Since retiring, Kaepernick has continued pursuing social justice initiatives and has flirted with returning to the NFL. Late last year, he held workouts for representatives from several NFL teams but has yet to receive any offers.
Luck did not specify how much compensation Kaepernick or his representatives said they expected for his services on the football field.
In 2014, Kaepernick signed a contract with the 49ers that guaranteed him $13 million dollars. He eventually opted out of the six-year, $126 million deal.
Early last year, the NFL settled an anti-collusion lawsuit with Kaepernick, who alleged league owners had conspired to keep him out of the league for fear of hurting its brand. The terms of the settlement were never publicly disclosed.
