Colin Kaepernick hasn’t been in Madden for a few years, last appearing in the game in 2017 as a free agent quarterback. That was after his final season with the 49ers.

In a social media statement, EA Sports gave this reasoning for bringing Kap back into the game this season:

Reasonable or straight-up pandering? We’ll argue about that on Facebook.

What I find interesting is that they rated Kaepernick, who hasn’t played since 2016, higher than a bunch of current NFL starters.

From The Undefeated:

After reaching a peak overall rating of 89 in both 2013’s anniversary Madden 25 and Madden 15 before dropping to 81 in Madden 16 and 74 in Madden 17, Kaepernick makes his long-awaited return to the game with an 81 rating determined by data-driven simulations that took his ongoing free agency into account, according to EA Sports. In Madden 21, Kaepernick ranks behind only 14 signal-callers — Patrick Mahomes (99), Russell Wilson (97), cover athlete Lamar Jackson (94), Drew Brees (93), Tom Brady (90), Aaron Rodgers (89), Matt Ryan (87), Deshaun Watson (86), Carson Wentz (84), Dak Prescott (84), Jimmy Garoppolo (83), Matthew Stafford (83), Kirk Cousins (82), Philip Rivers (82) — while sharing the same rating as Ben Roethlisberger. He ranks ahead of 96 Madden 21 quarterbacks, notably Ryan Tannehill (80), Cam Newton (78), Baker Mayfield (78), Kyler Murray (77), Jared Goff (76), Joe Burrow (76) and Teddy Bridgewater (75).

Okay so let’s get this straight; Kaepernick was a 74 in 2017 but after a few years of not playing, he’s now an 81? That’s an impressive leap.

Here’s a rhetorical question, since Madden ratings are arbitrary and otherwise useless –

If you were putting together a NFL offense, and you had to pick one of Kaepernick, Tannehill, Newton, Mayfield, Murray, or Goff, how many people are choosing Colin Kaepernick?