Tebow Time? Eagles trade third QB Matt Barkley to Cardinals
One question, as we pondered if quarterback Tim Tebow would make the Philadelphia Eagles, was how he would make the team being stuck behind No. 3 quarterback Matt Barkley?
That hurdle has been cleared. Barkley has been traded for a late-round conditional pick to the Arizona Cardinals. Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer reported that news first.
Now the question is if Tebow will make it as the third quarterback, or the Eagles will go with two (or acquire another quarterback, perhaps). But the Barkley trade certainly has to be viewed as good news for Tebow’s chances.
Tebow has played well at times this preseason and finished well in the fourth preseason game against the New York Jets. It has been speculated that he could be a two-point conversion specialist, and Eagles coach Chip Kelly used him in that role early in the third preseason game.
If Tebow does make it, it would be a remarkable story. He was cut by the New England Patriots at the end of the 2013 preseason. He was a free agent for a long time before the Patriots signed him, and spent the 2013 regular season out of football. He joined ESPN’s SEC Network and it looked like his football career was over. The Eagles, with a coach who thinks differently about a lot of things, gave him a shot this year. Tebow played a significant amount through the preseason and Kelly defended mistakes he seemed to make. Reports indicated the Eagles wanted to keep Tebow on the roster. The news seemed positive on Tebow, it was just hard to figure out if they would keep him instead of Barkley, though Barkley played ahead of him all preseason.
Without Barkley around anymore, Tebow’s chances of making the roster and completing a really fun story got a lot better.
– – – – – – –
Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab