Remember when the New England Patriots signed Tim Tebow and it was all everyone wanted to talk about? Thanks to Aaron Hernandez and an ongoing murder investigation, the buzz surrounding that move has essentially gone silent. Throw Alfonzo Dennard’s DUI arrest into the mix and — forgive me for saying it — Tebow is somewhat of a forgotten soul.
By the time the regular season comes around, the Patriots coaches may also forget to include him on the 53-man roster. Mike Rodak of ESPNBoston.com recently gave Tebow a 25% chance of making the Patriots final roster out of training camp. The Patriots have already unexpectedly lost one starter in Hernandez. They may soon lose another in Dennard, which makes each roster spot even more valuable.
Since New England signed Tebow, there have been various reports indicating the team brought him in to compete for a backup quarterback position and nothing else. Unless the Pats decide to cut Ryan Mallett, which seems unlikely given what they have invested in him, Tebow could be hoping the team plans to carry three quarterbacks. That has not been Bill Belichick’s style over the past few seasons.
Initially, there was speculation that the Patriots could use Tebow at tight end in addition to quarterback. One would think that theory has more legs than ever now that Hernandez is gone, but it doesn’t sound like that is the case.
The Patriots could obviously use all the high-character guys they can get in the wake of their recent legal issues, but they can’t keep Tebow on their roster strictly for locker room purposes. If the only contributions he will be able to make are as a No. 3 quarterback, it’s unlikely Tebow will make the cut.
