What Colin Kaepernick's Settlement with the NFL About it’s Collusion Case Means

On​ February 15, 2019, former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and the NFL settled a one year and four month collusion case which was filed by Kaepernick against the NFL. This all started in August of 2016 when Kaepernick, an African-American, began to sit during the national anthem. His purpose was to draw attention to all of the racism and police brutality against African-Americans. Kaepernick didn't sit long however, because a former NFL player who served in the military advised Kaepernick to kneel instead of sitting down for the anthem. So for all of 2016, Kaepernick kneeled during the national anthem as his way of protest. Other NFL players followed his lead which included his teammate Eric Reid. As for Americans, some saw Kaepernick as a cultural symbol while others saw him as polarizing figure.
After the 2016 NFL season, Kaepernick opted out of his contract and became a free agent.
He didn't sign with a team and is still unsigned. But that didn't stopped the movement that he started. In 2017, Donald Trump tweeted his displeasure at Kaepernick's methods of protesting. So starting at week three of last season, lots of NFL players responded by either taking a knee, linking arms, or both during the anthem. Trump continued to voice his displeasure at the players that were doing it, and encouraged fans to boo the players which a good amount of them did. That didn't stop the players from continuing to express the freedom that is granted in America. 
Kaepernick made big headlines himself in October 2017, by filing a collusion case that would sue the NFL and its owners for making a deal with each other which was that none of them would sign Kaepernick. His lawyers have been gathering evidence from the NFL owners.
Despite Kaepernick being 31, and his play in the last two seasons being inconsistent, before those two seasons Kaepernick was amazing. In 2012, he filled in at quarterback for the 49ers and led them to the Super Bowl. In 2013, he led the 49ers to the NFC Championship game. In 2014, Kaepernick's play remained stellar, but the 49ers missed the playoffs. In 2015, Kaepernick's play declined and he had shoulder surgery in November ending his season. In 2016, his play improved in only 11 games started, but it wasn't the same as the years before. Now he is unsigned. 
​Overall, he has had a very solid career and his lawyers have no problem with evidence against NFL owners. When a quarterback is signed to a team, Kaepernick's name starts to pop up amongst NFL. analysts and fans. This is because Kaepernick has probably had a better career than whoever that newly signed quarterback may be, regarding his stats, wins, and leadership to the team. 
So two weeks ago on Friday, Kaepernick and the NFL agreed that he will keep silent about this matter while the NFL will grant monetary damages to him. No one knows what Kaepernick's reward will be yet. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that the NFL owners will break their deal of not signing Kaepernick.
This settlement happened because the NFL doesn't want to admit their owners were colluding against one player just because of his methods of protesting. So while we don't know how much Kaepernick will get out of this, we now know that Kaepernick's actions have overruled the NFL and that the league was lucky to have a settlement rather than get sued. As for Kaepernick, it'll be interesting to see what comes next for him.