Mary Kay Cabot of the
Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that the
49ers want a second-round pick, but might settle for the Browns’ third-round pick, which is the second pick in the round, No. 65 overall. The key, however, is that the Browns would want Kaepernick to agree to a pay cut before the trade is completed.
The Moneyball guys running the Browns’ front office apparently think Kaepernick is only worth $7 million or $8 million a year, and that’s what they’d want Kaepernick to take, with the possibility of more money in the form of performance incentives.
But why should Kaepernick agree to that? On April 1, the 49ers either have to guarantee his $11.9 million base salary or cut him free and let him negotiate with every team and give his services to the highest bidder. Kaepernick also has a $1.125 million roster bonus and $400,000 workout bonus due this year, so if the Browns are asking him to take $7 million, they’re asking him to cut his pay almost in half.
