Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid have reached a settlement deal with the NFL over their collusion grievances.
\"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 in a joint statement issued 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 drew national attention in 2016 when he knelt during the national anthem before games to protest social injustice.
Kaepernick and Reid faced a difficult challenge to meet the burden of proof for collusion as defined in the league\'s CBA. The statute makes clear that unemployment alone does not mean collusion occurred.
According to the CBA: \"The failure by a club or clubs to negotiate, to submit offer sheets, or to sign contracts with restricted free agents or transition players, or to negotiate, make offers, or sign contracts for the playing services of such players or unrestricted free agents, shall not, by itself or in combination only with evidence about the playing skills of the player(s) not receiving any such offer or contract, satisfy the burden of proof set forth ....\"
To prove collusion, according to the CBA, Kaepernick and Reid would have had to show that a \"club, its employees or agents\" had \"entered into an agreement\" to restrict or limit whether to offer them a contract.
Via ESPN
