Tim Tebow Trade Rumors: Trade to New York Jets Not in Tebow's Best Interests

The Peyton Manning saga is over. The Tim Tebow saga is just beginning.

It's only been a couple days since it was revealed that Manning would be signing with the Denver Broncos, and it's been less than 24 hours since Manning's introductory presser. When it came time for Manning and Broncos boss John Elway to field questions, roughly half the questions had something to do with Tebow.

Because, you know, what really mattered at that moment was the team's now-backup quarterback.

It won't be long before Tebow is on the move out of the Mile-High City. There are numerous possible destinations, but one of the more intriguing rumors out there has Tebow going to the Big Apple.

It was reported by ESPN on Tuesday that the Jets have discussed trading for Tebow, but that they should be considered "a long shot."

Jenny Vrentas of The Star-Ledger has heard otherwise. A source told her that the Jets' interest in Tebow is quite "real."

Just think about this for a second. If you think Tebow is overhyped (he is), just imagine what things would be like if he ended up in the world's biggest media market with the NFL's most overhyped team.

To be fair, the Jets have legit reasons to be interested in Tebow. They think new offensive coordinator and Wildcat proponent Tony Sparano would be able to work wonders with Tebow, and they think he would prove useful in keeping the locker room in order. And indeed, his presence would most definitely come in handy a year after the Jets' locker room problems boiled over at the end of the season.

But the idea of Tebow in New York just doesn't compute. Tebow is bubbly, virtuous and humble. New York is the opposite of those things. It's a loud pressure-cooker with a tabloid culture that has tested and destroyed numerous star athletes over the years.

Tebow has managed to become tabloid fodder playing the first couple seasons of his career up in the rarefied air of Denver. Putting him right in the middle of the tabloid culture would be a recipe for disaster.

Then there would be the simple matter of Tebow's role on the Jets. He'd slide right into a backup role behind Mark Sanchez, a role typically reserved for has-beens (Mark Brunell) and never-will-bes (Greg McElroy). Being a backup would be nothing new for Tebow, but being Sanchez's backup would be a borderline insult.

Worse, it would be a dead-end job, as surely the Jets are not going to bench the very quarterback that they just signed to a three-year, $40.5 million extension. It was easy for the Broncos to ditch Kyle Orton in favor of Tebow. The Jets pulling that same trick with Sanchez would not be so easy.

The true nightmare would be if Tebow managed to take over as the Jets' starter only to fail miserably. He would invariably be driven out of New York on a rail, which would be a cruel fate for the most popular athlete in America.

There's always the possibility that Tebow would somehow take over as the Jets' starter and lead them to the Super Bowl victory Rex Ryan has been routinely promising over the last couple seasons. The odds of that happening, though, would be slim.

The Jets haven't been able to make it to the Super Bowl with Sanchez, and Tebow would not be an upgrade over Sanchez. That doesn't mean he'd be a downgrade, mind you, but he definitely wouldn't be an upgrade.

The Tebow haters would love nothing more than to see Tebow go to New York only to hold a clipboard for Sanchez, and they'd love it even more if Tebow got his shot and failed as the Jets' starting quarterback.

I'm not a Tebow hater, so I'll speak for myself and say that I don't want to see these things. I'd rather see him to go to a team where he'd actually have a starting job waiting for him, preferably in a city where he'd fit in and that wouldn't destroy him if he didn't perform well.

There are plenty of teams and plenty of cities out there that fit that particular bill. The Jets and New York don't.