Green Bay Was Never a Potential New Home for Tebow (and Why New York Is)

When Adam Schefter reported Tuesday both the Packers and Jets were interested in Tim Tebow, I was left scoffing incredulously. I sat down with my laptop and considered the myriad reasons Green Bay would not pursue Tebow, but before I had the opportunity to bang the “publish” button Wednesday, news broke: Tim Tebow is destined for New York, unceremoniously traded from Denver in exchange for a fourth-round draft pick.

Wait, what?

OK, ESPN is reporting now that the deal has hit a snag (and Bleacher Report's own Zachary Rymer summarizes the reasons beautifully), but let’s assume for the moment it gets done.

Set aside for now the oft-hyped mediocrity of Mark Sanchez (and Tim Tebow, for that matter). This goes deeper than Sanchez’s struggles in the passing game. This attempted trade is a microcosmic transaction representative of the New York Jets franchise and its oft-derided philosophies, which run counter to the values imparted on the Green Bay Packers upon Ted Thompson’s arrival in 2005. There are concrete reasons Green Bay didn’t make a play for Tebow, just as there are conjectured explanations New York ultimately pulled the trigger.

Since Ted Thompson was hired and Mike McCarthy brought into the wings, Green Bay has built its team from a well-defined philosophy. Unlike Major League Baseball and the ever-popular “Moneyball” approach, in which college players who have little history are avoided like the plague in favor of experienced minor-leaguers, Ted Thompson has built the Packers almost exclusively through the draft.

Consider the team’s 22-man starting roster at the end of last season; only three players (cornerback Charles Woodson, safety Charlie Peprah and defensive end Ryan Pickett) were acquired through free agency. The other 19 were an array of first through seventh-round draft picks, selected judiciously to match Green Bay’s offensive and defensive scheme.

Tim Tebow is a unique player, one so unique Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy was forced to overhaul the offense when he became the full-time starter. McCoy introduced the triple option, a play design considered by most football fans to be dead in the NFL because it puts unnecessary risk on the quarterback. Unless your quarterback happens to be 6’3", 236 pounds of solid muscle. All he needs is a neck roll and full-cage helmet to be Mike Alstott’s on-field doppelganger.

It was asinine to consider Tebow in the Packers offense. McCarthy opts to pass the ball about 60 percent of the time, primarily because the Packers passing game is a well-oiled machine, based upon millisecond timing and quick-developing routes. Many fans will forget Aaron Rodgers was sacked 41 times last season, and his mobility is nothing to sneeze at.

Tebow’s delayed release, combined with Green Bay’s ignored and anemic running game—ranked 26th in the NFL in yards per attempt—would have spelled trouble if he was a legitimate backup to Aaron Rodgers, the latter being no stranger to Green Bay’s medical staff.

That’s Green Bay.

At the end of last season, New York had two starting wide receivers (Santonio Holmes and Plaxico Burress) and five key defensive starters (Mike DeVito, Calvin Pace, Antonio Cromartie, Bart Scott and Jim Leonhard) who were acquired through means other than the draft. New York has taken chances on veterans like LaDainian Tomlinson, Jason Taylor, Lito Sheppard, Bubba Franks and Brett Favre, all ultimately stop-gaps put in place for a season.

The Packers used 25 draft picks the past three years; New York used 13. Mike McCarthy has won a Super Bowl; Rex Ryan has guaranteed a Super Bowl. Aaron Rodgers talks to ESPN’s Erin Andrews; Mark Sanchez talks to GQ. A lot.

You get the point.

The philosophies guiding both franchises are as far apart as east from west. Rex Ryan is boisterous, to say the least, treating fans to his cursing on HBO’s popular miniseries, Hard Knocks. One wonders how carefully the dynamic between he and the saintly Tebow was considered before this deal was put together.

More important, however, Tebow could be bringing his traveling circus to New York City, the biggest stage in the world. In New York, Mark Sanchez is a celebrity without ever having put together an above-average season, and just as there are differences between the Jets and Packers, there are significant differences between Sanchez and Tebow. The former has coasted in his role as the starting quarterback with the (sincere) belief he’s improved as a passer in his three NFL seasons. Tebow believes he has miles to go before he earns the starting role.

A faction of Sanchez’s teammates resent him, evidenced by comments made after the 2011 season. The USC alum recently called those attacks “gutless," a sign he’s lost whatever control he may have had in that locker room.

Tebow, meanwhile, works endlessly to earn the respect of his teammates, and more important to those teammates, he didn’t sabotage his defense last season with 18 interceptions (or 51 in the past three).

But wait, didn’t New York recently extend Sanchez’s contract three seasons? Less than two weeks ago, a deal was made, making this potential move even more puzzling. Typically, contract extensions serve to reassure a starter the role is his to lose, and the team is prepared to build around him going forward. Yet, if New York is willing to trade for Tim Tebow, one wonders how committed to Sanchez the franchise really is. 

Thompson and McCarthy knew bringing Tebow aboard meant bringing along his cavalcade of fans; unlike the situation in Green Bay, however, there are questions concerning the leadership and progression of Mark Sanchez. A few consecutive bad performances from Sanchez, and fans will flood the stadium with signs reading “No. 15," “John 3:16” and the inescapable “Tebow Time."

The league will be watching to see the decision Rex Ryan makes and the (inevitable?) implosion of Mark Sanchez, dozens of microphones on site to catch every nugget and sound byte, all while Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy evaluate their hand-picked, rarely newsworthy rosters without a blink from the media.

I guess that’s something separating Green Bay and New York, too.