Sunday came and went, and Colin Kaepernick is still a member of the San Francisco 49ers, but for how much longer?

As Peter King pointed out on his site The Monday Morning Quarterback this morning, the ball is in Kaepernick’s court. No the move to Denver is not guaranteed, but with principal parameters for a trade in place, it seems that a deal being reached is the most likely outcome.

Kaepernick’s base salary of $11.9 million is not in the Broncos price range, with Denver reportedly offering to pay around $7 million. The situation with San Francisco and Kaepernick is a strange one. San Fran first-year head coach Chip Kelly has publicly lobbied for the Niners to keep Kaepernick in a 49ers uniform, but the team has allowed him to speak with John Elway twice in search of a trade. Ultimately King believes a trade will happen for these reasons.

If the 49ers wanted desperately to keep Kaepernick, they would not have allowed him to meet with Elway twice, one of the meetings taking place at Elway’s Denver residence. The Broncos do not have much cap room, Kaepernick knew with before even getting in discussion with Denver, it did not deter him from meeting with the Broncos twice.

I agree with King. The Broncos are playing hardball with the 49ers, and why would they not? With the Browns out of the mix for Kaepernick, and no other teams showing interest, there is no hurry to make this trade happen. With roughly three weeks until the NFL Draft, Elway can afford to stick to his principle, like he always has.

Since taking over the GM responsibilities five years ago, Elway has arguably been the best executive in the entire league. Savvy free agent signings, solid draft picks, and the consistent ability to reload, not rebuild, has made the Broncos one of the most successful teams in the league. Elway is confident in his approach, and that is once again showing. The Broncos can afford to be patient for these reasons.

By acquiring Mark Sanchez, the Broncos have a veteran quarterback that can run the offense. There is no need to panic. If San Francisco really wants to move Kaepernick, they will eat some of the salary to get the deal done. In the long run, that will be a much smaller cap hit than paying his full salary would be.

Denver has time to work this deal out with Kaepernick and the 49ers. This trade is not a matter of if, but a matter of when. I fully expect Kaepernick to be the starting quarterback for the 2016 Denver Broncos.

Colin Kaepernick trade talks between Broncos and 49ers could escalate Monday

Photo Credit: Steve Nehf