NFL, Colin Kaepernick Reach Confidential Resolution On Collusion Grievance
BOSTON (CBS) -- The ongoing legal battle between Colin Kaepernick and the NFL has been resolved. We just don't know exactly how.
The NFL and Kaepernick's lawyer announced Friday afternoon in a joint statement that the grievance filed by Kaepernick and Eric Reid has been resolved, but the details of the matter remain sealed by order of a confidentiality agreement.
"For the past several months, counsel for Mr. Kaepernick and Mr. Reid have engaged in an ongoing dialogue with representatives of the NFL," the statement said. "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."
Even the NFL Players' Association was not informed of the details, though the union lent support to Kaepernick returning to the NFL as a player.
The exact details of the case are unlikely to make it out to the public, but speculation immediately began that sensitive material that would not shine a positive light on the NFL would have seen the light of day without a resolution like this.
Back in November 2017, it was reported that a number of owners -- including Robert Kraft and Jerry Jones -- were asked to turn over their cell phone records and email communications as part of the deposition process.
Reid was signed by the Panthers during the 2018 season, while Kaepernick has remained without an NFL job since the end of the 2016 season.
While the public will never know for certain what such communications might have included, and while the exact details of the settlement agreement won't be made public, the reasonable conclusion drawn by most reporters following this case is that the league agreed to pay a sum of money to both Kaepernick and Reid in order to keep those details private.
