Chip Kelly: Kaepernick excited to move forward with 49ers

San Francisco 49ers head coach Chip Kelly spent last week touring military bases around the world, and faced the same question at each stop.

"Yeah, it was interesting. They all want to know about Kap," Kelly told reporters Thursday, via Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee.

The future of quarterback Colin Kaepernick has been a hot topic of discussion this offseason. General manager Trent Baalke offered some clarity on the situation Wednesday, saying he "absolutely" expects Kaepernick to remain on the roster through April 1, which is when his 2016 base salary of $11.9 million becomes guaranteed.

There have also been reports that Kaepernick isn't happy with the 49ers, but Kelly said he hasn't sensed that in the few phone calls they've had since he was hired.

"He wants to be here,” Kelly said. "He's never expressed to me that he didn't want to be here. He expressed to me that he's excited about getting healthy and getting going. And we're excited about him getting healthy and getting going."

Kelly was noncommittal about Kaepernick's status during his introductory press conference, bringing up Blaine Gabbert's name several times. He didn't shy away from praising Kaepernick on Thursday, though.

"Kap's really good," Kelly said. "I mean, he had the ball on the 5-yard line (intending on) taking the team in to win a Super Bowl. You can just look at the tape to see how talented he is. You know, our job is acquiring talent, not getting rid of talent."