The New York Jets are down to their third-string quarterback, and the most accomplished free-agent signal-caller in football remains unsigned. Might the Jets be the team to finally put an end to Colin Kaepernick effectively being blackballed from the NFL? If so, the former San Francisco 49ers franchise quarterback wouldn't expect to have the Jets' starting job handed to him. In fact, Kaepernick is apparently content to re-enter the league as a backup quarterback.

ESPN's Stephen A. Smith reported on Tuesday that Nessa Diab, Kaepernick's longtime girlfriend, recently said told him that not only does Kaepernick train five days a week at 5:00 a.m., but that he would be comfortable signing with a team that plans to use him as a reserve.

Kaepernick hasn't been in the NFL since 2016, when he played in 12 games for San Francisco, throwing for 2,241 yards, 16 touchdowns, and four interceptions and ran for 468 yards and two scores. He subsequently opted out of his contract to become a free agent, but went unsigned amid concerns from teams across the league about the potential public relations hit of bringing in the player who first took a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality and systemic racism against African Americans.

Kaepernick, despite his readiness to play, has been left on the sidelines ever since. In March, he settled a lawsuit with the NFL that accused teams of colluding to keep him out of the league.

The Jets are in desperate need for help at quarterback in wake of Trevor Siemian's season-ending injury on Sunday. Normal starter Sam Darnold remains sidelined indefinitely by mononucleosis, leaving Luke Falk, a sixth-round pick in last year's draft, as New York's starter in Week 3 against the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.