Ravens coach John Harbaugh thinks Colin Kaepernick will be starting QB in NFL this season

Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh is confident that quarterbackColin Kaepernick will be playing in the NFL this season.

"I absolutely think he's going to get signed," Harbaugh said at the NFL owners meetings Tuesday. "He'll probably be starting somewhere next year at some point in time during the season."

Kaepernick remains unsigned since opting out of his contract with the San Francisco 49ers on March 1. Some believe teams are avoiding him because of his controversial stance to take a knee last season during the national anthem as a way to protest social injustice.

Harbaugh said he is "a little surprised" that no team has picked Kaepernick up yet.

"He'll get a chance again," Harbaugh said. "Someone is going to sign him and he'll play in this league probably for a long time."

Last week, Jim Harbaugh said Kaepernick can still be a "great quarterback" and "win championships." Under Jim Harbaugh, Kaepernick led the 49ers to Super Bowl XLVII, where they lost to the Ravens in February 2013.

Kaepernick, though, was 1-10 as the starter for San Francisco last season. For that reason, John Harbaugh believes Kaepernick has to prove himself again.

"When you're the quarterback and you don't win, you're going to have to answer for that," Harbaugh said.

Harbaugh described Kaepernick as a good person who comes from a good family and is passionate in what he believes. He took exception to the term "blackballed" and indicated that Kaepernick's situation is more nuanced than that.

"Everybody respects everybody else's opinion on politics," Harbaugh said. "It's not going to impact how somebody plays. I'm not going to play better or worse because this person believes this or that."