Former quarterback Tim Tebow is expected to sign a one-year contract to play tight end for the Jacksonville Jaguars, a deal that would reunite him with head coach Urban Meyer with whom he won two national championships at the University of Florida, the NFL Network reported Monday.
His signing to the team “could be official in the next week or so,” the network said, and Meyer and general manager Trent Baalke appear to be waiting until after this weekend’s rookie minicamp to get the deal done.
Tebow, a 33-year-old Jacksonville native and 2007 winner of the Heisman Trophy, last played for Meyer during his senior year at Florida in 2009.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Tebow may have an opportunity to make an immediate impact at his new position after the Jaguars waived veteran tight end Tyler Eifert and traded injury-prone 2019 draft pick Josh Oliver to Baltimore. Still, there may be some competition as the team signed run-blocking specialist Chris Manhertz in free agency, brought back TE James O’Shaughnessy and drafted Ohio State’s Luke Farrell in the fifth round.
Those moves, however, were considered minor after Meyer vowed to completely revamp the position group with Tebow perhaps providing some splash as a hometown favorite.
“That will be interesting to see how that contributes to us on offense,” Jaguars co-owner Tony Khan said recently. “Obviously Urban knows Tim really well, and Tim’s got a great history of winning. Urban really believes he can help us, and I think it makes a lot of sense. And it’s a position where we need to get better.”
But how much can a guy on the wrong side of 30 who’s never played the position bring to the team? Tebow’s value could mean as much off the field as on it.
Meyer has said repeatedly that signing players who already know his methodology would be helpful in Year 1. Tebow would become the sixth guy on Jacksonville’s roster who previously played for Meyer, joining Farrell, running back Carlos Hyde, guard Andrew Norwell, defensive end Lerentee McCray and defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton.
Tebow was selected 25th by the Denver Broncos in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He led the team to the playoffs two years later but was out of the league by 2013 due to inconsistent play and an unorthodox throwing style.
He moved on to a broadcast career with the SEC Network and also played baseball in the New York Mets’ minor league system between 2016 and 2020. He last played in the NFL for the Philadelphia Eagles, who released him during the 2015 preseason. Before that, Tebow had two short-lived stints with the New England Patriots, who cut him before the start of the 2013 regular season, and the New York Jets, where he was traded and spent one season in 2012 after the Broncos signed Peyton Manning.
Back in February, he announced his retirement from professional baseball after four seasons and then a week later worked out for the Jaguars, where Meyer was hired as head coach a little more than a month earlier.
Information provided by The Associated Press was used to supplement this report.
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