The New England Patriots made a bold move when they brought in Tim Tebow as a free agent following his release from the New York Jets and despite the fact that coach Bill Belichick signed him to a two-year deal, the team released him with roster cuts for Saturday's 53-man deadline.
The Patriots kept Rob Gronkowski on the 53-man active roster despite him coming off of an injury and they also released Daniel Fells and Jake Ballard. Tebow's move came ahead of the 53-man deadline after Adam Schefter reported the news and it came after he had some up and down preseason, playing in three games, completing 11 passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns with two picks. He didn't play in the third preseason game against the Lions and the writing may have been on the wall, as Brian Hoyer did not play in the third game last season and was also let go.
The Patriots haven't carried more than two quarterbacks in three of the past four seasons and for a comparison, the Raiders have four quarterbacks on their roster this year after liking what they saw from Matt McGloin in the preseason. Tebow rushed for 91 yards and had 91 yards passing against the Giants last Thursday night, but it wasn't enough to keep his roster spot, even with a nice 52-yards touchdown and he also looked crisp on other passes. The problem for Tebow was overthrowing a number of receivers and if offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels wasn't enough to keep him on the roster, what team would want him?
Tebow was a free agent for some time after he was released by the Jets and now he could be an options for some teams heading into the season, but he has to pass through waivers first before he can be a free agent since he has less than four years in the league. The Bills were looked at as a team that could claim him since his contract was not all that crazy and with just EJ Manuel and Jeff Tuel after Kevin Kolb was injured and Matt Leinart was released, but Pro Football Talk confirms that the team will go with two quarterbacks on the roster...for now. Some teams that could be interested down the line include the Bills, Raiders, Vikings, Chargers or Chicago Bears and even though Oakland already has four quarterbacks, why not add a fifth.
The Bears and Chargers were mentioned as options before Tebow was signed by the Patriots and the Vikings could be a fit depending on how they think about using Christian Ponder and Matt Cassel this season. The Patriots are playing the Bills in Week 1 and there is a chance that Tebow could play for his third AFC East team if he is signed by Buffalo, although that is a long shot. The Bills feel that Manuel should be ready for Week 2 or Week 3 and the team may sit tight until then and now the Patriots will move forward with Ryan Mallett as Tom Brady's backup.