If it was up to one Hall of Famer, the Dallas Cowboys would be bringing in ex-San Francisco 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick as Dak Prescott recovers.
Prescott suffered a fractured thumb against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and could be out for up to 4-8 weeks, with owner Jerry Jones recently stating that he believes the recovery can be on the shorter side.
However, there is major variance in that timetable, and Dallas needs to recover from a 19-3 opening loss to Tampa Bay. In terms of who the team could look to as a potential replacement, Cowboys Hall of Famer Drew Pearson threw out two eye-catching names: Colin Kaepernick and Cam Newton.
“Call Cam. Call Kaepernick. Call anybody out there,” Pearsons said according to TMZ. “We got to have somebody there with some experience, some game experience,” the legendary Dallas wide receiver said… I’m not talking about coming in and mopping up for somebody after the game’s already won or already lost. I’m talking about somebody that’s been there, been in the big time, knows how to be a starting quarterback in the National Football League.”
Dallas bringing in Kaepernick (or Newton) would be a move that would create tons of buzz, but it would be a major turn from the Cowboys’ front office.
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Kaepernick Recently Worked Out for Raiders in Free Agency
The former San Francisco star has not played since 2016 after his six-season run with the 49ers. Kaepernick’s protests during the national anthem in 2016 were a major factor in his absence, as the NFL paid $10 million to settle the quarterback’s collusion case, per Wall Street Journal.
In May of this past offseason, Kaepernick visited the Las Vegas Raiders for a workout and potential free agency talks. The reviews of the workout were mixed, but the key thing is that the Raiders never signed Kaepernick to a deal.
At 34 years old and six years removed from his last NFL snaps, it’s hard seeing a scenario where he’s the actual best option for Dallas while Prescott recovers. Newton makes more sense as a player who was still starting games for the Carolina Panthers in 2021, but he also struggled by going 0-5 as a starter last year and completing just 54.8 percent of his passes, according to PFR.
Jones’ Latest on Cowboys QB’s Recovery
When Prescott was initially injured, the first reports of a recovery timeline said 6-8 weeks, as Heavy covered. However, Jones shared a major burst of optimism on September 13 when he revealed that Prescott would not be going on the injury reserve.
“If we thought he wasn’t going to be ready to go for four games, after four games, we would be putting him on injured reserve. We’re not doing that. We think he can come in and play.” Jones said on Shan and RJ. “We feel very good after surgery, after listening to the medical people that Dak has a real chance to be back out there throwing the ball pretty quick.”
Getting Prescott back anytime in the next month would be a major boost. Cooper Rush is the de facto starter in the meantime and proved last year that he can win games at the NFL level, but Prescott has been the Cowboys’ starter for the past five seasons for a reason.
It’s not out of the question that Dallas signs another quarterback, but Jones has made it sound like the team will take its lumps and get Prescott back quickly.
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Cowboys Hall of Famer Urges Team to Sign Ex-49ers QB: ‘Call Kaepernick’