The Philadelphia Eagles may keep Tim Tebow on the 53-man roster if he doesn't make major mistakes this preseason, as head coach Chip Kelly likes the versatility of the quarterback and this comes as a Matt Barkley trade could be an option if he loses the third string competition. Sam Bradford is the starter at quarterback over Mark Sanchez with DeMarco Murray, Nelson Agholor and Jordan Matthews on offense.
The Eagles signed Tebow this offseason and reports have Chip Kelly excited about the prospect of having Tebow on the 53-man roster. Bradford was acquired for Nick Foles during the winter and he is expected to be the starting quarterback after how he has looked in camp. Sanchez is slotted in as the backup and that leaves Kelly to decide between Tebow or Barkley. Barkley has come up in trade rumors multiple times this offseason and reports have him continuing to be available for a trade.
According to Dianna Marie Russini at ESPN, Kelly is "increasingly excited" about Tebow and that he has the inside track to the third string job, as long as he doesn't make any "major errors" in the preseason. Tebow was not all that impressive in his first preseason game, going 6-of-12 for 69 yards, but he did have a rushing touchdown and had good accuracy early in his first drive. Barkley was better against the Colts, passing for 192 yards, but if Kelly is favoring Tebow, Barkley will have to perform extremely well moving forward to stick around.
Barkley was the third string quarterback last season, but he threw only one pass despite Nick Foles missing half the season. That doesn't inspire much confidence from Kelly and with Sanchez backing up Bradford, there is likely only room for one player between Tebow and Barkley. While Tebow is not a typical NFL quarterback, he has reportedly improved his throwing motion and he could be of more value to Kelly than Barkley. If Kelly uses Tebow as a decoy player or gadget player, he can come in more often than Barkley would and in a sense that is more value from that roster spot.
Kelly is not a conventional head coach and this plays into that and that could lead to Tebow sticking around. Tebow has not played in an NFL game since back in 2012 when he was with the Jets. The team barely used Tebow back then, as he had just eight pass attempts and 32 rushes for 102 yards and zero touchdowns. Kelly has reportedly been impressed by Tebow's running skills and he thinks they can be useful on offense.
The Eagles offense should be very productive this season and it comes after the team added DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews to the running game along with Nelson Agholor at WR. Agholor is a rookie and he should end up starting alongside Jordan Matthews with the way he has looked in camp. Agholor has looked better than Riley Cooper and Matthews appears ready to step up with Jeremy Maclin gone as the number one receiver.
Check here for more on Tebow and the Eagles in training camp.
