Duh…of course he is. I’ll tell you why.

Before I do that, who are we to judge whether or not someone is or isn’t worth whatever their employer wants to pay them. Why are we counting another man’s money? Is anyone worth what they earn? I’ll say this, outside of my first job out of grad school in 2009, I’ve never been paid what I deserve but I’ve always managed to get away with highway robbery and negotiate a higher salary that I didn’t “deserve”. No one ever gets paid what they are “worth” they get paid what the negotiate.

With that said, I don’t think Kaep did a great job of negotiating a blockbuster deal. He could have easily had the figure balloon up to $150M, but the kid wants to win so he made sure the 49ers would be able to sign other players.
The total $126M of which $61M is guaranteed of that “guaranteed” amount only 10.3% is truly guaranteed. Get the full contract details here.

Kaepernick is worth the money. Two years ago, he took the 49ers to the Super Bowl and was one play away from winning it. Last season, he was one play away from going back to the Super Bowl. If Kapernick isn’t worth the money then who is? Brady, Peyton, Rodgers, Brees, Luck? He’s a young QB who’s more than likely only going to get better. Outside of Andrew Luck there’s no other young QB I’d rather have than Colin Kaepernick. Russell Wilson plays with a great defense and running game. Cam Newton most likely peaked last year. Robert Griffin III is going to have a hard time staying healthy. Ryan Tannehill, E.J. Manuel, Nick Foles and Johnny Manziel will be good, but never elite. Kaep has a chance to be elite.

Also, if he’s not worth the money then who is San Francisco going to get to replace him? The draft is over. There are no good QBs left in free agency. More than likely, the 49ers will make the playoffs which makes drafting Jameis Winston impossible. And even if they could draft Winston, who’s to say the FSU QB can even cut it in the NFL.

Kaepernick has proven himself as a very good QB in this league. Right now he’s in the VIP line to becoming an elite QB. Colin doesn’t control the market. The market was set before him many years ago. Last off season, Tony Romo signed a $108M extension, Aaron Rodgers signed for $110M, Joe Flacco signed for $120.6M, Matt Ryan signed for $130.75. And this January, Jay Cutler signed an extension for $126.7M.

Is Colin Kaepernick a top 10 NFL QB? Of course, so he’s worth the $126M.