The Tim Tebow experiment has unequivocally failed this season and now it seems that the former Heisman trophy winning quarterback wants out of New York for good.
According to reports from Manish Mehta of the Daily News, Tebow will ask for a trade from the team or will ask to be released after head coach Rex Ryan named third-stringer Greg McElroy the starter for next week's game against the San Diego Chargers for Mark Sanchez, bypassing Tebow, the depth chart-listed backup.
"I want to put Greg out there," Ryan said on Tuesday, according to the Daily News. "I'm going to put Greg out there. In my opinion, that's what's best for our team."
Ryan made the decision after Sanchez turned the ball over five times on Monday night in a 14-10 loss to the Tennessee Titans. Sanchez has completed just 55 percent of his passes this year while throwing for 2,678 yards and 13 touchdowns with 17 interceptions and 12 fumbles. Over the past two seasons he leads all players with 50 turnovers.
"I told Mark we needed to make a change," Ryan said. "He respected my decision."
Ryan had once said that Sanchez would be the quarterback as long as he was the coach, but that obviously is no longer the case. The locker room has been split apart based on the quarterback issues, with many players supporting Sanchez, but hoping for better play from the position.
"I don't set standards for Mark," right guard Brandon Moore said. "Mark is doing the best he can. You can't take away his commitment and his approach to the game."
The Jets now turn to McElroy, a quarterback with just seven throws of NFL experience. He came into his first game two weeks ago against the Arizona Cardinals in a game that Tebow was inactive for due to a rib injury. He completed five of seven passes for 29 yards and one touchdown and helped the team win 7-6 on Dec. 12.
The move to McElroy signals the lack of confidence the Jets have in Tebow and an admission of failure after bringing him over in a trade this offseason. He has played sparingly at quarterback and when he has, he has looked lost. New York isn't planning on using McElroy as the quarterback of the future, but thinks that he can turn into a competent backup.
Tebow has thrown for 39 yards on 6-of-8 attempts and has rushed for 102 yards. He has also played on special teams and as a punt protector. When the team first acquired him, offensive coordinator Tony Sparano and head coach Rex Ryan said they would use Tebow in a wildcat package and that he could see "15 to 20 snaps" per game.
The offensive plan has failed miserably as the Jets have the 30th-ranked passing attack in the NFL with just 181 yards per game.
Tebow first came to prominence as a quarterback in college at Florida, setting SEC records and winning national championships and the Heisman trophy as a sophomore. He was drafted in the first round by the Denver Broncos and took over the starting job in 2011, helping lead the team to numerous exciting comebacks and an 8-8 record, good enough to win the AFC West.
He made his first start in week six against the Miami Dolphins and led Denver from a 15-0 deficit in the last three minutes to win the game, 18-15, in overtime. Denver became the first team in NFL history to win a game after being down by at least 15 points with three minutes to play in a game.
Tebow then led the Broncos to an amazing overtime playoff win against the Steelers, but was traded in the offseason after Denver signed Peyton Manning. The Jets touted the move as a game-changer, but one that would not unsettle their starter, Mark Sanchez.
That turned out to not be the case, as Sanchez has had a terrible season, while Tebow hasn't factored into the offense at all. He became the most high-profile backup in all of sports and received tons of media attention, including from ESPN's coverage of the Jets training camp, which reported on stories like Tim Tebow running shirtless in the rain.
Some, like ESPN New York's Ian O'Connor, said Tebow was brought in just as a publicity stunt by owner Woody Johnson as a way to sell tickets and jerseys.
"When Tim was here we saw the issues up close," a Broncos player who requested anonymity told CBS Sports.com's Mike Freeman earlier this month. "The Jets didn't, and now they are seeing the problems, too. ... I feel really, really bad for Tim. He's a good person, just not an NFL quarterback."
The quarterback situation for the Jets now looks dire. The team owes Sanchez $8 million guaranteed next year after giving him and extension in the offseason and would take a nearly $20 million cap hit if they decide to cut him.
The likely move for the Jets is to trade Tebow and keep Sanchez, but that depends on how the team views Sanchez going forward. As bad as he was, the team never put talent around him and constantly kept Tebow lurking in the background, something that does not help a developing quarterback in his crucial fourth season.
So where does this leave Tebow now? Based on what people saw this year, his stock is extremely low. While with the Denver Broncos he had success running some plays, but has regressed this season while not playing enough on offense.
One possible destination could be in Jacksonville, where the team has struggling second-year starter Blaine Gabbert as quarterback. Tebow grew up in Jacksonville and played his college ball at Florida, which would make him a prime draw for one of the worst teams in the league.
It was rumored that the Jaguars would draft Tebow in 2010, but the team let him slip to the 25th pick and the Broncos. Now there is an opening again. Any team that takes Tebow would likely have to build the offense around him, which is something that Denver adapted to when they made him the starter two years ago.
Tebow has been a good soldier in New York, never making a fuss about playing time or working on special teams. In a sense he should feel betrayed that the Jets have him as their backup quarterback and then passed over him for McElroy, but the organization is looking to do what's best for the team, not one player.
"Here is the most popular athlete in the sport, according to many polls, and the Jets this season have benched him, misused him, humiliated him. They gave up too much material for him, a pair of draft choices. They paid him too much money, with a cap hit over $3 million," wrote The Daily News' Filip Bondy. "If Tebow were anyone but Tebow, he would be throwing a fit right now and nobody could blame him."
The Jets are officially eliminated from the playoffs this season and will now look and see what they have in McElroy, who was a seventh round pick and starred at Alabama in the SEC, the same place where Tebow played college football and where, ironically, he had more success.
