evidence: Kaepernick's camp maintained that he had been out of work for three full seasons for reasons nothing to do with football and everything to do with his politics regarding social justice and his on-field protests. Still, the NFL's strategy in approaching Kaepernick was to concentrate narrowly on football. To sources both outside the league office and the Kaepernick team, this was the NFL's first mistake; the only way to get Kaepernick and the league to trust each other was to confront their acrimonious history with diplomacy so both sides might more easily believe the other was entering the workout with legitimate motives. "To say we're going to make this about football is one of the dumbest things you can say," a source close to the situation says. "It's not a big deal, it's the whole deal, because the reason he's not playing isn't about football. Everyone knows he can play. It's the other stuff. You have to deal with the other stuff." [...] The NFL rejected the Kaepernick team's request to change the dates. The Kaepernick team thought the offer took on a "take it or leave it" characteristic. The tone of the call felt procedural. According to sources from the Kaepernick team, Gardi said he was not authorized to make alterations to the offer. He was, in effect, delivering a message.