Most NFL teams carry three quarterbacks, so when the Philadelphia Eagles traded away Matt Barkley Friday -- leaving them with just Sam Bradford, Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow -- the NFL world assumed Tebow had made Philadelphia's roster. Saturday, we found out that is not the case -- the Eagles cut Tebow to enter the season with just two quarterbacks.
The Eagles cut Tim Tebow for nobody
Tim Tebow didn’t get beat out for the Eagles’ third-string job: Chip Kelly simply thought he wasn’t good enough for it and hopes a better player comes available.
Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer talked to Chip Kelly after the decision, and got some interesting quotes.
Chip Kelly on Tebow: "I think Tim's really progressed, but we didn't feel like he was good enough to be the 3 right now."
— Zach Berman (@ZBerm) September 5, 2015 Kelly said that he doesn’t have another quarterback in mind, but that the team is looking out for somebody from the waiver wire. So essentially, after watching Tebow all preseason, Kelly decided he wasn’t worth keeping on the roster over a replacement-level quarterback from another team. For the record, I thought Tebow looked alright enough to earn a third-string spot (although certainly not a starting gig) but it’s Kelly’s opinion that matters.
So you’d think there was somebody at some other position who earned their spot on the roster to force the Eagles to take just two quarterbacks into the season, but ... that’s not quite the case either. Philadelphia needed to cut 21 guys to get under the 53-man roster limit, but opted to cut 22 to get to 52, meaning it will leave a roster spot open for players from other teams’ cuts. (And for the record, Kelly said Tebow wasn’t the last guy cut.)
Tebow’s NFL career isn’t necessarily over, but getting thrown to the curb in favor of (null set) doesn’t make the future look good.
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