Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Whither Tim Tebow?

"Who will rid me of this troublesome QB?" John "Henry II" Elway
Supposedly now that Peyton Manning is in hand - the Denver Broncos will trade Tim Tebow possibly as early as this afternoon. Speculation is ripe throughout the Intertubes about where he will end up. Jacksonville? That would seem the natural marketing fit yet the football people there prefer Blaine Gabbert which I don't understand. Sure Gabbert has a slightly higher completion percentage but he throws many more interceptions than Tebow. Miami? Don't know about you but I'd rather have Tebow than Matt Moore.

There's a school of thought that Tebow could work as back-up for an established QB like an Aaron Rogers in Green Bay, maybe a Drew Brees in New Orleans or Tom Brady in New England. Green Bay just lost their backup QB Matt Flynn who signed with Seattle so there seems to be a slot open there. I honestly couldn't tell you who is the backup QB in New Orleans but if Tim Tebow got traded there then everyone would know who the backup was. New England has perhaps the best depth at QB of any team in the NFL. Tom Brady is a God, Brian Hoyer could probably start for half the teams in the league and Ryan Mallett is a cannon-armed diamond in the rough. That said - how about a trade that would send Ochocinco to the Broncos for Tim Tebow? That would solve a problem for both teams. If I'm Bill Belichick I definitely make that offer. Just for the salary cap space it would be worth it (Chad Ochocinco costs them $3 million while Tebow would just be $1 million).

One of the more intriguing rumors is the Jets being interested in Tebow. I wonder if that is the offshoot of all the speculation that the Patriots are interested? How funny would that be if the Jets get goaded into a move just out of fear that Belichick was somehow outmaneuvering them? I would actually like to see Tebow in New York but not with the Jets. How ironic would it be if Tebow ends up as Eli Manning's backup with the Giants? I think that would be great on a cosmic karma scale.

Don't sleep on the very real possibility that the Broncos announce today that they are not trading Tebow but are releasing him instead. They could spin it that they owe it to Tim after everything he did for the team last year to let him decide what team would be best for him to sign with. This would eliminate the embarrassing situation of having to settle for a 5th or 7th round pick for a guy who was your starting QB last year.

If Tebow is released then a whole new set of opportunities open up. How come nobody has mentioned the CFL? Tebow in Canada would be the biggest thing since Doug Flutie played north of the border. It would give Tebow the chance to start at QB and prove that he can do the job just as Flutie had to go to America's Hat to show he could be an NFL QB.  You know the CFL is salivating just at the thought of Tebow.

I still think the Flutie comparison is apt. Looking back - how many NFL teams would have been better off with Flutie than the prototypical NFL QB's they tried while Flutie was up in Canada? When all is said and done - people may think the same thing about Tim Tebow.

So what's God's will for Tim Tebow? We might find out today.