Tim Tebow can't escape the news even when he is not playing. The New York Jets backup quarterback was in the headlines again after EPSN's Adam Schefter reported that the team is trying to trade the quarterback before the league year begins in March.
It means that the team is unlikely to release Tebow at all and will try to get value for him. The problem is, there aren't many trade options. The Jacksonville Jaguars looked likely, but their new general manager said no way in his first press conference. The Bears hired a coach who worked with Tebow in the past, while some other teams could be potential landing spots.
The Philadelphia Eagles may need a new quarterback, as do the Arizona Cardinals and the Cleveland Browns. Possibly the Ravens? Crazy yes, but he could actually be a change of pace mix it up type that he was supposed to be with the Jets. Anything is possible with the Jets.
There has been lots of chatter about trades on Twitter, including possible destinations and time that it could go down.
-From TMZ: Mercedes Lewis said he did not want Tebow on his team. "Jaguars Star: I Don't Want Tim Tebow on My Team!"
-ESPN New York: "New York Jets won't cut Tim Tebow before March 12 -- sources"
Tebow has spent part of the offseason training in Arizona, where he was tracked down by the Daily News. He has been working with a new team of trainers and has been focued on getting faster and more agile as a quarterback. He was spotted at Paradise Valley Community College in the area and for all anyone knows, he could be a Cardinal in the future.
Tebow first gained notoriety in the NFL as a rookie in 2010 after signing a five-year contract with the Denver Broncos, where he started his first NFL game on Dec. 19, 2010. Tebow became the third quarterback in NFL history to throw for a touchdown of 30 or more yards and run for a touchdown of 40 or more yards in the same game.
Possibilities in Chicago extend from Marc Trestman, who was in the CFL and previously worked with Tebow for the draft. Tebow was predicted as a third round draft pick before working with him.
"We have a quarterback who has a long delivery and he's one of the greatest quarterbacks and will finish as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time north or south of the border so he does it with a motion very similar to what Tim Tebow used in college. When you're an accurate passer and you have the intangibles that go along with that you can figure it out and make it work and whether Tim changed his motion or not I believed he would figure it out and I don't have any doubt that he'll be very, very successful," Trestman said.
Tebow is still under contract for two more years and owner Woody Johnson has said in the past that he will remain with the team until his contract is up, fueling speculation that the Jets brought him to only sell tickets and jerseys. In a sense it worked, considering that Tebow was probably the first backup quarterback in history to lead the NFL in jersey sales.
"It was a mess," Westhoff said of the Tebow situation, according to ESPNNewYork.com. "It was an absolute mess. You can say whatever else you want, it was really a mess. I was very, very disappointed. There are things that Tim Tebow as an NFL quarterback, he's very limited in some things. If you throw him in the middle of a drop-back passing offense, he will look very, very average at best. But if you incorporate him in different facets of your offense, I think he can be a factor. That's what I thought we were going to do, but we never did it."
There are many possibilities for Tebow but it will depend on a front office taking his entire situation into consideration and whether they view him as a possible starting NFL quarterback.
