Late Sunday morning, reports surfaced that Colin Kaepernick filed a grievance under the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA) for collusion against owners in the league. Forgoing the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA), Kap is being represented by Mark Geragos, the attorney who has represented such high-profile clients as Michael Jackson and Chris Brown.
The new filing alleges that NFL owners "have colluded to deprive Mr. Kaepernick of employment rights in retaliation for Mr. Kaepernick's leadership and advocacy for equality and social justice and his bringing awareness to peculiar institutions still undermining racial equality in the United States.”
“We can confirm that this morning we filed a grievance under the CBA on behalf of Colin Kaepernick, said Geragos in a statement. “This was done only after pursuing every possible avenue with all NFL teams and their executives.
“If the NFL (as well as all professional sports leagues) is to remain a meritocracy, then principled and peaceful political protest—which the owners themselves made great theater imitating weeks ago—should not be punished and athletes should not be denied employment based on partisan political provocation by the Executive Branch of our government.”
What these new filings present is the possibility of an early termination of the collective bargaining agreement that is originally due for expiration in three years. Under the bylaws of the CBA, only one incident involving one player can be considered in the question of termination.
"We first learned through media reports today that Mr. Kaepernick filed a grievance claiming collusion through our arbitration system and is represented by his own counsel," read a statement from the NFLPA union. "We learned that the NFL was informed of his intention to file this grievance before today."
The union also went on to express their intent to support and ability to assist Kaepernick “as we do all players.”
It was last season that Kap opted out of his contract with the 49ers, expecting to land with any other team in the league, and with good reason. Nonetheless, the quarterback, who locked down 16 touchdowns and only four interceptions in 12 games, could not find a new spot with any team despite his agent having reached out to all 32 organizations to express his availability.
This entire situation came in the midst of Kaepernick’s controversy in kneeling during the national anthem as a form of protest against racial inequality and police brutality against minority groups in the United States.