Tebow may not be done in New England

All the media have assumed that Tebow getting cut means he is done forever in New England.  I'm not 100% convinced yet.  Possible evidence to the contrary:

1.  Tedy Bruschi said so:

"I could envision a scenario where he [Tebow] is initially cut and not on the 53-man roster, but he comes back at another point down the line. Maybe multiple times ..."

Tedy Brushi is not just some guy who claims to be an insider.  He was one of two players inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame this summer, where Bill Belichick called him the "perfect player".  Tedy maintains close ties with the organization and is often sought out for his views.  There is no evidence he was speaking for the team or doing anything but speculating.  Still, the fact that someone with such credibility would say that before the cut merits consideration.

2.  The Pats have not said anything publicly.  Given the amount of positive comments that owner Robert Kraft made about Tebow during training camp, it seems odd that nobody in the organization has expressed regret that it didn't work out.  Maybe that is coming at the next press availability.  Still, seems odd that they have suddenly gone radio silent.

3.  The Pats actions during camp indicated they intended to keep and develop him.  The Pats installed a special block of plays just for Tebow during training camp.  They only used them in the first and second games.  If their intention all along was to evaluate Tebow as a pocket passer, that seems like a waste of effort.

4.  Nobody is leaking anything yet.  The Pats are a notoriously tight-lipped franchise.  Still, word gets around and people feed things to the media to further their own agendas. If the Pats organization had a change of heart on Tebow, I would expect someone to be whispering about it to Mike Silver, Tom Curran, or whoever Pats insiders whisper to these days.

5.  Belichick said that he was looking for improvement.  Tebow did show progress over the course of camp. While his overall statistics were bad, his final game was considerably better than the first two.  He ran a straight pocket passing attack, with no read option, and even with terrible protection still managed a 55% completion rate and a better passer rating than Mallet in that game.

6.  The need is still there. Mallet is a prospective starter, and the Pats will receive trade offers for him after the season, and possibly during the season once injuries start to blow up other franchises' QB plans.  There is no way they can take advantage of his trade value unless they have another backup who is familiar with their offense.  Plus, they are always one hit to Tom Brady's knee away from needing another QB.

7.  A lot of surprise moves were made during this weekend to manipulate the roster cap and fill roster weaknesses.  The Pats beat media called it a whirlwind. It is not at all unusual for players to get released to make room for potential waiver claims, then later brought back.

8.  The Pats don't have to keep Tebow on the roster to keep him available.  Nobody expected him to be claimed on waivers, and nobody expects him to get picked up early in the season, at least until injuries start to take their toll on other clubs.  The Pats can be fairly confident that Tebow will still be available in a few weeks if they need him.

9.  If the Pats never intended to play Tim this season, but wanted to develop him for next season, they can do that without taking up a roster space.  He can study the playbook and work on his mechanics on his own, and remain on call when they need him.

So in theory, coach Belichick could still have something up his sleeve. Maybe Tim stays in the Boston area, continues to work on his mechanics and accuracy, and continues to learn the offensive system and playbook.  When the roster cap permits, the Pats bring him in for a few weeks of workouts.  If they need him down the stretch, they've got him.  Otherwise, he's got a good jump on OTAs and camp for next year.

Could all this be wishful thinking by a desperate fan?  Yes, absolutely.  It probably is.

Still, Bill Belichick has a press conference on Monday afternoon.  You can expect him to get peppered with questions about Tebow.  I will be parsing his words closely, looking for any hint that the door is not closed as tightly as it now seems to be.

Postscript:  Belichick pretty much confirmed my article today:

"I don't know what's going to happen year-to-year in a certain week. We've had a lot of players that have left here and come back here. I don't think that would be any different. That's already happened multiple times this year."