When the Broncos put Tim Tebow on the trade block in March, only the Jets and the Jaguars were interested. The Jets ended up with him, but are widely expected to send him packing this offseason.
That leaves the Jaguars as perhaps the only team in the NFL that wants Tebow.
In fact, Chris Mortensen of ESPN reports that it’s “a virtual certainty” that Tebow will play for the Jaguars in 2013. Mortensen says Jaguars owner Shad Khan still wants Tebow in Jacksonville, just as he did in March, and this time Khan is likely to get his man.
From a business perspective, it makes a lot of sense. Tebow is probably Florida’s most popular athlete, and acquiring him would be a major boost for a team that has often struggled to sell tickets. It’s no surprise that Khan thinks having Tebow in the fold would be good for his bottom line.
The question is whether it makes sense from a football perspective. The Jaguars don’t have a clear-cut starter at quarterback, so adding someone who has started and won games would seem to be a wise decision. But would Tebow be able to develop into a long-term franchise quarterback? Or would the presence of Tebow serve as a distraction to the Jaguars’ efforts to get a long-term franchise quarterback in place?
The risk of distraction is real, but it’s apparently a risk Khan is willing to take.