Philadelphia Eagles Rumors: Tim Tebow Play Significant Role On The Team Next Season

The Philadelphia Eagles are rumored to be growing more and more fond of Tim Tebow, with the quarterback once thought to be simply another arm in training camp now appearing likely to make the team and possibly even play a significant role.

Eagles coach Chip Kelly made waves this offseason when he signed Tebow, who is now two seasons removed from playing in the NFL. It was initially thought that Tebow was simply a “camp arm,” an extra quarterback to move the team through OTAs and training camp with little chance of making the team.

But now rumors indicate that the Philadelphia Eagles may have real plans for Tim Tebow. CBS Sports writer Ryan Wilson predicted that Tebow would make the team’s 52-man roster, beating out Matt Barkley for third string duties.

Officially, Chip Kelly hasn’t tipped his hand much. In an interview this week, the Eagles coach said he’s still far from making any real decision.

“No, just because of the nature of what we do there are no pads,” Kelly said as the final minicamp wrapped up, Thursday. “Quarterbacks can’t be touched. You’re really not allowed to play press-man and get up and get physical with them. You can kind of mirror them and shadow them.

“So there is a lot of cooperation that has to go on in the offseason program, so to come to any real conclusions at this point in time, it really wouldn’t be fair to anybody to say, ‘Hey, this guy has done an unbelievable job.’ We still need to put pads on, we still need to be physical and see what that’s all about.”

Even though he would only be the team’s third-string quarterback (at best), Tim Tebow could still factor into the team’s plans. There were rumors that the Philadelphia Eagles were planning to make him the league’s first “two-point specialist,” taking advantage of a new rule that would move two-point conversions to the 1-yard line.

That rule never came — instead two-point conversions stayed at the 2-yard line and extra points were moved to the 15-yard line. While that negates some of the advantage Tim Tebow would have (it would be nearly impossible to stop Tebow from getting on yard, but still very difficult to stop him from getting two), Kelly was a big fan of the two-point conversion at Oregon and still may have ideas about using Tebow to go for two more frequently.

[Image via Getty Images/ Jared Wickerham]