Jets Bring Tebowmania To New York

Since the dawn of the Rex Ryan era, the New York Jets have been the kings of back-page headlines with their brash and brazen nature lead by Ryan first and foremost. Not willing to relinquish that position the Jets acquired QB Tim Tebow from the Denver Broncos on Wednesday in exchange for 4th and 6th round picks. The deal was announced earlier in the day however it was put on hold shortly thereafter when it came to light that there was something called a recapture clause in Tebow's contract in case of a trade on the order of $5 Million. This basically means that when Tebow was drafted in the 1st round of the 2010 draft it was written into his contract that if the Broncos traded him than he would be owed $5 Million. Apparently either the Jets failed to read that part of Tebow's contract or the Broncos didn't bring it to light.

The issue of the recapture clause is what killed a possibly Tebow trade to the Jacksonville Jaguars. When news broke that the Jets deal would be put on hold the Jags stepped back in and offered to pay $3 Million of the $5 Million owed. However the Broncos front office decided to stay with the Jets because they believed the picks they would receive back from New York were more valuable than what they would get from Jacksonville. In the end the Jets agreed to pay $2.53 Million and the trade was finalized Wednesday night.

So what does the Tebow trade mean for the Jets. It's fairly obvious that this trade is mostly a PR move. After their woeful finish to 2011 that was fraught with locker room unrest resulting from the team's accumulation of talented players that came cheap because of their character flaws. Tebow has cultivated a baby-faced image, as manufactured as it may be, over the past year and is expected to be a positive influence in the Jets locker room. He has also shown the kind of fire and leadership that Jets fans have been starving to see from incumbent QB Mark Sanchez. I think Tebow's biggest contribution to the team will be the fact that he will be competing with Sanchez and I think the Jets are hoping to lit a fire him before they fully give up on him. Make no mistake, the Jets do not expect Tebow to be their starter. Instead look for him to be put in during goal line situations and perhaps as a change-of-pace with his own package from time to time.