The latest Tebow-hater theme is how dumb the Jets are for hoping to trade him. Obviously no team would ever give up anything of value for Tebow, so the Jets should just cut him now and be done with it. So the thinking goes.
I'm not sure how many of these people actually believe that, and how many are just taking another cheap and easy shot at Tebow. Heaping scorn and derision on various targets is apparently a major pastime of the Twitterverse and Blogosphere. For example, there are apparently whole online communities devoted to hating Anne Hathaway. Go figure.
However, in the case of Tebow, even national sportswriters have picked up this theme. For that reason, it is worth demonstrating exactly how facile their argument is.
First off, nobody knows if the Jets can obtain some value for Tebow. A lot of horse trading goes on during the draft. Teams wheel and deal for relatively small adjustments in draft position, moving up or back a few positions to have a better shot at a target player. During that time, even the smallest additional incentives can add perceived value to a deal. Who knows if some team might consider Tebow, alone or bundled with other players, as a suitable incentive to drop back a few spots in a round, especially if they project their targeted pick will still be available later?
Second, it costs the Jets absolutely nothing to hold Tebow until after the draft. Not one red cent.
Given fact #2, the Jets would be fools to release Tebow before the draft. If there is even a 1% chance of using him to sweeten a deal during the draft, then the Jets should hang on to him. hey have nothing to lose by holding onto him to see if he is useful during the draft as a bargaining chip. If they don't use him, they can toss him aside after the draft and be no worse off. Discarding him before they know if they can use him, without gaining any benefit from discarding him, would be beyond dumb.
It's the distraction, the haters say. What distraction? Tebow is running around the country getting QB coaching and doing charity events. So he'll be in the downstairs gym a few times for the next few weeks? Big deal. These are freakishly large, strong men who make a living knocking each other down. I think they can handle lifting weights a few times with a soon-to-be former teammate. High turnover is a way of life in the NFL. Nobody bats an eye when other players come and go.
Jeff Garcia, the current West Coast Offense guru for Mark Sanchez, says that Sanchez could be a winner, if only Tebow would leave. So Sanchez aspires to lead large men bashing into other large men, but his self esteem is too fragile to handle the presence of a backup QB in his gym for 2 weeks? Really? Wow, he's learning to inspire already.
There is actually only one good reason to release Tebow: because it is the right thing to do for Tebow. As soon as he is released, he can start searching for a team willing to take a chance on him during waivers or free agency. For some teams and some management teams, that would be an important consideration. When Tebow displaced Kyle Orton, Denver released Orton so he could play elsewhere. It certainly wasn't in Denver's best interest for him to go bail out division rival Kansas City, especially since they wound up losing to KC later that season. But John Fox felt an obligation to look out for Orton's best interests as well as his own. Sadly, the Jets apparently have no such compulsions.
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