How Much Money Was Colin Kaepernick Paid In His NFL Career? Earnings Are North Of $40 Million

The NFL has reached a settlement with Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid regarding their collusion case against the league. The terms of the agreement were not released.

“For the past several months, counsel for Mr. Kaepernick and Mr. Reid have engaged in an ongoing dialogue with representatives of the NFL,” attorney Mark Geragos and the NFL said a joint statement Friday. “As a result of those discussions, the parties have decided to resolve the pending grievances. The resolution of this matter is subject to a confidentiality agreement so there will be no further comment by any party.”

Kaepernick and Reid have accused the NFL of colluding to keep them out of the league because of their decision to kneel during the national anthem. Kaepernick has not been signed by a team since he opted out of his contract with the San Francisco 49ers nearly two years ago. Reid’s contract ended with San Francisco at the end of the 2017 season, and he remained a free agent until the Carolina Panthers signed him on Sept. 27, 2018.

There’s plenty of speculation regarding how much money the NFL paid Kaepernick in the settlement. Many insiders have guessed it is in the tens of millions of dollars, possibly much more money than Kaepernick might earn if a team decided to sign him.

It once looked like Kaepernick would be one of the highest-paid players in the league. He signed a $126 million contract with San Francisco in the 2014 offseason, shortly after he reached the conference championship game for a second straight year.

Kaepernick took over as the 49ers’ starting quarterback during the 2012 season and led the team to the Super Bowl, where they were defeated by the Baltimore Ravens.

Kaepernick chose to become a free agent in March 2017, though San Francisco would have released him if he didn’t opt out of the contract. The quarterback restructured the deal during the 2016 season.

The $11.9 million base salary Kaepernick earned in 2016 was the highest of his six-year career. He was given a $12.3 million signing bonus for agreeing to his new contract in 2014, and he had a $10.4 million base salary in 2015.

In the end, Kaepernick made $43,479,216 in his NFL career, per Spotrac. That would put him 133rd among current NFL players.

Kaepernick has since landed an endorsement deal with Nike that reportedly will pay him as if he were a top NFL player.