The Seattle Seahawks announced Friday they've opted not to sign free-agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick, but that doesn't mean the team's players were against the idea.
Star defensive end Michael Bennett previously stated the Seahawks were a perfect fit for Kaepernick and his quarterback supports the idea as well. Russell Wilson said after head coach Pete Carroll's announcement that he wouldn't have any issue with Seattle signing Kaepernick, according to Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times.
"I haven't had the chance to be around Colin too much, but the times I have, he's been great," Wilson added, according to Sheil Kapadia of ESPN.
"He's obviously, first of all, a really, really good football player. He's made a lot of good plays in a lot of big games and done a lot of good things. So I have tons of respect for him in that way."
Kaepernick and the Seahawks battled for years for NFC West supremacy. Since losing the 2013 conference championship game to the Seahawks, however, Kaepernick and the San Francisco 49ers have not posted a record better than 8-8.
Related: A brief history of the Kaepernick-Seahawks rivalry
Kaepernick opted out of his contract with the Niners at the close of the 2016 season and has sat on the open market since.
Had he signed with the Seahawks, he would have been rendered Wilson's backup. Seattle's players believe he would have been a positive influence in the locker room, as well.
" ... In terms of everything else he stood for too, I think that he was trying to stand for the right things. He was trying to stand for equality. And so I respect that too," Wilson said.
Carroll said the team wouldn't be signing Kaepernick "at this time." Should that position change in the future, at least two of Seattle's marquee players would be supportive of the move.