Tim Tebow needs to move on from NFL dreams

Tom Pelissero | USA TODAY Sports

This should be the confirmation Tim Tebow needs that it’s just not going to work.

If he can’t play for a coach as smart and open-minded as Chip Kelly, in a Philadelphia Eagles offense made for quarterbacks who can move, on a team that seemed to truly want him to succeed, Tebow’s NFL career may be truly over this time.

His release Saturday came a day after the Eagles traded Matt Barkley to the Arizona Cardinals, opening the No. 3 quarterback job.

Instead, the Eagles are opting to move ahead with two, Sam Bradford and Mark Sanchez, and keep looking for a third on either the 53-man roster or the practice squad, Kelly said. Tebow, meanwhile, hits the street again.

Kelly praised Tebow’s improvement but said the Eagles didn’t think he's good enough to be the No. 3 QB — a fairly strong assessment of a player who’s 28 years old and has made 16 NFL starts. “He just needs to get more playing time,” Kelly said, yet the Eagles decided not to give Tebow those reps on their scout team.

Whatever strides Tebow made with his throwing motion haven’t made up for how he struggles to read defenses and throw an accurate ball. Those are two pretty big shortcomings for anyone trying to be an NFL quarterback, even one with a 9-7 record as a starter.

That Tebow finished the preseason strong, completing 11 of 17 passes for 189 yards and two touchdowns with an interception Thursday night against the New York Jets, couldn’t make up for all the times over the past 4½ months he didn’t look like an NFL QB.

He hasn’t played in a regular-season NFL game since 2012 and has had four NFL teams give up on him, dating to a trade from the Denver Broncos to the New York Jets after the 2011 season. Another brilliant coach, the New England Patriots’ Bill Belichick, couldn’t find any use for Tebow coming out of camp in 2013 either.

This has nothing to do with the potential distraction of Tebowmania. This is about Tebow not being a good enough quarterback to warrant the Eagles keeping him instead of an empty roster spot as they trimmed down to 52.

If Bradford gets hurt (again), would the Eagles turn to a guy who already knows their offense to back up Sanchez and whoever gets the No. 3 job? Never say never, especially with Kelly running the personnel show. But the smart money says Tebow has seen an NFL field for the last time.

Follow Tom Pelissero on Twitter @TomPelissero.

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