Frenz of the Family: Links to the Best in AFC East Coverage, Weekend Edition

Happy Saturday, everyone! I'm trying to enjoy my weekend off—though I may pop in if necessary—so here's some required* reading for you all. I will expect you to have all read the material by Monday*. There will be a test*.

*This statement is a lie.

New York Jets

Should Tim Tebow retire? Ian Rapoport of NFL.com writes that his influence is already stronger than most public figures. It would allow him more time to "make faith something cool," but it's hard to imagine him completely giving up football. He's such a fiery competitor, it almost seems contradictory for him to retire so early in his career when he could make faith even cooler by becoming a proven NFL legend rather than a flash-in-the-pan.

An interesting hypothetical, but here's a real situation, and a perfectly fitting cliché: Those who don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. The Jets have bombed the past three drafts, and the fact that they've only had 13 picks in the past three years has hurt them even more. Khaled Elsayed of Pro Football Focus scoffs at the notion that the Jets have gotten much or any value in the draft since '09, while taking them to task for several reaches.

New England Patriots

Sorry to re-open the healing wounds, but of the 53 teams that have scored 30 or more points in pro football history, three of them belonged to the New England Patriots: 2007, 2010 and 2011. None of which, you will note, won the Super Bowl. In fact, according to Kerry Byrne of Cold Hard Football Facts, only 14 of those teams won the NFL title or Super Bowl trophy.

In other news, it looks increasingly likely that Patriots receiver Wes Welker will not get an extension done before 2012 and will play the season under the franchise tag, according to Jason La Canfora of NFL.com. 

Miami Dolphins

Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill has received mixed reviews from most mock draft experts, but the reviews as gathered by Ben Volin of the Palm Beach Post paint a different picture. Bill Polian, Mike Mayock, Mel Kiper, Jr. and Todd McShay all agree (side note: that whole December 21, 2012 thing? Probably true) that Tannehill will have to sit for at least a year while he learns to take the reigns of an NFL offense. 

Omar Kelly of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel has the thoughts of two head coaches when it comes to what to look or in a quarterback. Falcons head coach Mike Smith says it's all about intelligence, and Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett says he looks for intangibles.

Buffalo Bills

The Bills may have an interesting choice to make in the first round, where a mid-round team may want to jump up and get a prospect they have nabbed as a top-10 guy. But if the Bills choose to do so, they would be in a situation where the prospect value is tight in the middle of the first round. Chris Brown of BuffaloBills.com sat down with NFL Network analyst and former NFL GM Charlie Casserly to pick his brain about this year's prospects.

But it's clear that the overwhelming majority believes the Bills should not move up for Tannehill. Peter King of Sports Illustrated says Tannehill is visiting with the Bills, and 88 percent of voters in a Buffalo News poll (by Jay Skurski) said that the team shouldn't move up to get the Texas A&M quarterback. I have to wonder whether those results were impacted more by Fitzpatrick or Tannehill. I'll go with the former.

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