New England Patriots cut Tim Tebow

Tim Tebow is done with the New England Patriots. The next question is has Tebow thrown his last pass in an NFL uniform.


 The Patriots made it official Saturday morning and released the talented, spirited and undeniably polarizing quarterback.
I'm guessing that's it for Tebow's dream to become a big-time NFL quarterback.
Haven't we been down this road before?
When the New York Jets cut Tebow in April, it appeared that dream was vanquished then. A handful of league executives insisted then, that if Tebow, with his 47.9% career completion rate, didn't change positions, he would have no long-term future in the NFL.
But after weeks on the market, Tebow received new life from Patriots coach Bill Belichick -- perhaps as a favor to his pal, Urban Meyer, Tebow's coach at Florida or to Josh McDaniels, the Patriots offensive coordinator who had drafted Tebow to the Denver Broncos. Either way, it was a chance for Tebow to salvage his career as a quarterback.
Which leads us back to now, with Tebow at a career crossroads to decide whether he wants to try to make it in Canada or in, say, the Arena League, to grow as a quarterback.
Yet know this: If Belichick couldn't make it work with Tebow, no one can.
After all, McDaniels was the man who bet on Tebow as a first-round pick in 2010, 25th overall, as coach of the Broncos.
Yet it's apparent that McDaniels' belief in Tebow can extend only so far.
The writing has been on the wall for weeks, especially after the Patriots insisted that they would use Tebow only as a quarterback -- a developmental project behind Tom Brady and Ryan Mallet.
His chances to stick seemed doomed when the Patriots didn't create another utility role to complement his work in developing as a passer.
That's the only way he could have earned a roster spot. He would have to chip in as an H-back, a fullback, a tight end … something other than a quarterback.
During the early days of training camp, there was a flicker of hope that Belichick's creative juices as the NFL's most resourceful coach -- remember, in a pinch, he's used receivers Troy Brown and Julian Edleman as cornerbacks -- would save Tebow's dream.
Tebow lined up with receivers and running backs and caught passes from the legit quarterbacks during the first few days of camp.
That was just a tease.
Also evident as camp practices began was that Tebow was woefully out of his league as an NFL passer, with such inconsistent accuracy.
Sure, Tebow, so special as a national champion and Heisman winner at Florida, can barrel over a linebacker and accelerate around the corner on a scramble out of the pocket.
But quarterbacks don't survive like that.
And the most explosive running quarterbacks -- Cam Newton, Colin Kaepernick, Robert Griffin III -- can all do something Tebow can't.
They can throw the football, too.
Tebow too often had trouble just seeing where to throw. And when to throw.
And when he did throw, who knows where the ball would wind up.
This was so evident during a snapshot early in camp that seemed to capture the predicament the Patriots had with Tebow.
On one play, he held onto the football for maybe 15 seconds -- enough to be sacked three times -- as he scrambled right and then motored back to the left side of the formation.
After he planted his feet and found a checkdown receiver in a flat, Tebow threw the football in the dirt.
And the crowd jeered.
No, even the great Belichick could not create what isn't there.

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