Though it feels like he’s been around forever, Tim Tebow still hasn’t spent four years in the NFL. Which means that he will be exposed to the waivers system after being cut by the Patriots.
Which means that any team can make a claim for his contract.
His contract is favorable. For 2013, he gets the minimum for a player with three years of experience: $630,000. Next year, he’s due to receive the minimum again, at $730,000. Plus a whopping $25,000 workout bonus.
So who would want a guy who was available for more than a month in free agency?
How about the Bills.
Buffalo currently has two quarterbacks on the roster. Both are rookies. One of them is injured. The other wasn’t drafted.
Then there’s the fact that the Bills host in seven days the team with which Tebow has spent all of training camp and the preseason. Despite his erratic skills, he’s in position to help the Bills prepare for the Pats, on both sides of the ball.
The question for the Bills isn’t whether Tebow is a great quarterback. It’s whether he’s good enough to add to a depth chart that currently consists of two guys with no regular-season experience — and a possible Week One starter who was 4-22 in college.
If the Bills are considering the question of claiming Tebow, they have one guy on the coaching staff who knows him well: Defensive coordinator Mike Pettine.
In June, Pettine said he believes Tebow still has the ability to be a starter in the NFL.
“I coached against him with the Jets when he was at Denver, and he beat us on a two-minute drive,” Pettine told Tim Graham of the Buffalo News. “And then I went against him in practice.
“He’s a unique athlete, not the most orthodox NFL quarterback, but he finds a way to get it done. Those guys that are changeup types are the ones that give you some trouble.”
If nothing else, it would add some intrigue to Week One if the Bills opt to add Tebow as they prepare to play the team that just fired him.
