Former San Francisco 49er quarterback Colin Kaepernick asked for a $20 million payout to join the Alliance of American Football (AAF). Former NFL player Tim Tebow was also approached, sources say.

Even as he continued a lawsuit against the NFL for “colluding” to keep him from playing, the AAF reportedly sought Kaepernick out about joining the new league. Though, the player most known for inventing protests during the playing of the national anthem, demanded more than half the league would earn combined, the Daily Mail.

According to ESPN, players in the AAF are earning from $75,000 to $250,000 for a three-year contract as the league fights to gain fans.

Kaepernick has been sitting on the sidelines since he turned free agent at the end of the 2016 season. It was also in 2016, that Kaepernick invented the national anthem protests that spread throughout the NFL for the next three seasons.

Sources also told the Mail that the AAF approached former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow, as well.

Tebow, who only last month announced his engagement to former Miss Universe Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters, reportedly turned down any offers to play for the new football league in favor of continuing his pursuit of a professional baseball career.

The 2007 Heisman Trophy winner traded in his football cleats for a baseball glove in 2016 and joined Major League Baseball’s minor leagues in pursuit of being signed by a Major League team. Tebow has surprised critics and went 1-for-4 as the East team’s designated hitter in the 2018 All-Star Game. He will continue his quest with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies in 2019

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.