Eagles Choose Morris Over Tebow

Tim Tebow lovers worldwide had a day of hope for their hero to make an NFL roster when the Philadelphia Eagles decided to ship quarterback Matt Barkley to the Arizona Cardinals for a conditional seventh-round pick.

Their exuberance would be short-lived as the Eagles decided to part ways with the cult hero.

“Well we had an offer for a trade with Matt, so we thought that was the best possible scenario in that situation,” Eagles head coach Chip Kelly explained. “Then we just felt like – I think Tim has really progressed, but we didn’t feel like he was good enough to be the three right now.”

Not good enough to be the No. 3 quarterback.

With the history of injuries that Philly starter Sam Bradford has, as well as backup Mark Sanchez, it speaks volumes about Tebow’s talent, or lack thereof, that he’s not on the roster.

“We looked at everything and then we just make the best decision on what we had to do for the Eagles,” Kelly said of releasing Tebow.

If you’re scoring at home, four teams with accomplished head coaches have given up on Tim Tebow.  This is after he was a first-round pick, which pretty much guarantees that you get at least three years.

Kelly, maybe the most offensively innovative NFL coach in the past 20 years couldn’t find a spot to use him.

The NFL moved the two-point conversion line of scrimmage up a yard and still nobody wants him.

Finally, Stephen Morris, who was an erratic nightmare of a college quarterback and not much better in his two preseasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars, was selected over Tebow.

“It’s just who we think is the most productive guy out there that fits for us,” Kelly said.

Tebow “stans” will likely continue to shout to anyone that is in ear’s distance that their guy never received a fair shake.

The truth is that he received more than his fair share of chances, and failed at every professional stop.  Instead of honing his craft in a lesser league like the CFL or Arena Football, Tebow couldn’t “lower himself” to do so.

It’s time to retire the adage that nobody works harder than Tim Tebow.  The guys who switch leagues and switch positions to keep the hopes alive of an NFL career work harder.  Those guys who don’t have millions of dollars in endorsements to fall back on work harder.

We’re at the point where he doesn’t deserve another chance in the NFL until he proves that he’ll do whatever it takes to be an actual quarterback, not a celebrity.

Bucs Claim Most Off Waivers In NFL

Most NFL fans get excited when they see their favorite team make transactions, whether it be a trade or the waiver wire.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans had a lot to follow on Sunday as the team made 19 separate transactions.

Having the top waiver priority because they finished 2014 with the worst record in the NFL, Bucs general manager Jason Licht claimed five players off waivers: defensive end Kourtnei Brown, linebacker Jeremiah George, quarterback Ryan Griffin, linebacker James-Michael Johnson and center Eric Kush.  

To make room for those new additions, the Bucs waived tight end Cameron Brate, guard Kadeem Edwards, tackle Reid Fragel and wide receiver Rannell Hall, while releasing linebacker Jason Williams.

The fact that Tampa Bay had to claim five players, none of which from a playoff team in 2014 further illustrates that it may be another long season for the Bucs.  Rosters aren’t build through the waiver wire, or at least they shouldn’t be.  Although Tampa has some elite players at their positions which include Gerald McCoy, Lavonte David, Alterraun Verner, Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson, the lack of pieces around them are startling.

For a team that’s spent hundreds of millions of dollars over the last few off seasons on free agents, they shouldn’t be in the position to have to claim losing teams’ 53rd, 54th and 55th players.

Is it all former general manager Mark Dominik’s fault?

He had his fair share of failures, both in the draft and in free agency, but he was the one who has accounted for all of the franchise fixtures that they currently have.

Licht, the Bucs current GM is not off to a particularly great start.  Only first-round pick Mike Evans looks like he’ll have real value from the 2014 NFL Draft.  The team already released its fifth-, sixth- and seventh-round picks from the 2015 Draft.  The team traded up to get Ali Marpet in the second round of this year’s draft and he was arguably the worst guard in football during the preseason.

Tampa Bay is going to need first-overall pick Jameis Winston to pay off, or else they are going to have plenty more chances to pick in the Top 5, and time will tell how many more drafts Licht will participate in.

Running Backs Dealt

There were a couple NFL trades involving running backs on Sunday as the Seattle Seahawks sent Christine Michael to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for a conditional seventh-round pick.  The other trade saw the Cleveland Browns thin out their backfield by shipping Terrance West, south to the Tennessee Titans for a conditional 2016 draft pick.

Dallas adds a talented, yet underutilized back to it’s stable and Michael will likely begin the season backing up Joseph Randle.  At 5-foot-10, 221 pounds, the former Texas A & M product runs with power and could be a nice short-yardage option for the Cowboys.

The Titans have more questions than answers in their backfield as Bishop Sankey has been disappointing, and rookie David Cobb could miss at least half of the season.  West will compete for carries right away and could be a factor in fantasy.