I think Tim Tebow is a terrible quarterback.

Edit: I think Tim Tebow is a terrible NFL quarterback. He's young and maybe he'll figure it all out and turn into Joe Montana 2.0, but the numbers are the numbers. He was the single most inaccurate passer of the century in 2011, completing just 46.5 percent of his attempts. In 1942 that would have been almost acceptable. In 2011 it was embarrassing. 

Again, it might change, but have you seen anything from Tebow that suggests he's going to become the 60 percent passer that is almost essential to a championship football team in this era? I haven't. What happened with the Broncos last season was an outlier, it probably won't happen again in our lifetime. Teams don't win games when the quarterback can't complete passes.  You know that, I know that and John Elway sure knows that. And that's why he's handing the keys to the car and $40 million bucks (or so) to a 36-year-old who might break out Steve Grogan's neck brace in Week 1. Desperate times and all that.

Tebow's best chance for real NFL success -- not a two-month fluke, not some run that some people actually believed had something to do with higher powers, or some ability to will teammates to victory, that there are intangibles that he owns that others do not (guess he left those on the flight from Denver to Boston) -- is to play a position that is not quarterback. 

That's reality, but it's also tricky. Tebow expects to be a starting quarterback in the NFL. And, from his perspective, why not? He is on any reasonable shortlist of the most successful college quarterbacks in history and in his first season as an NFL starter led a team to the playoffs. Assuming John Elway trades him (and I'm not as sold as everyone else that is what will happen), I can't imagine Tebow would be thrilled backing up, say, Andy Dalton. 

Knowing this -- and knowing what Tebow means in that part of the country -- I fully expect Elway will trade him to Miami or Jacksonville. They are both in the horrible position of having to make deals to sell tickets, and that's always when teams give up the most for the least. The Dolphins might publicly save a little face, and the Jaguars might get a day or two of relevance. Then what? You've got a quarterback who isn't nearly ready for Prime Time as the face of the franchise. And call it a hunch, but when the Jaguars are 3-11 and Tebow is completing 43 percent of his passes I don't think there will be 75,000 people in the stands.

Tebow's best chance to succeed as an NFL player is at a place where there is no shot he'll be a factor in the quarterback mix, a place where his presence will not be anything resembling a distraction in the locker room, a place where he doesn't need to be a savior, a place where ticket sales don't dictate playing time and a place where the head coach isn't afraid to think outside the box when presented with an elite athlete who might not fit at the position he has played his entire career.

One hint before you guess where I'm going with this: It's not Jacksonville.

Look, I don't know what Bill Belichick really thinks about Tim Tebow, Quarterback or Tim Tebow, Athlete. If he was just doing an agent or someone else a favor when he brought Tebow to town for a very public dinner before the 2010 draft that wouldn't be a surprise, right? And all the swell things Belichick said about Tebow leading up to the two Denver games last season mean nothing, of course. He'd say the same things about Johnny Unitas or Scott Secules, it's fill in the blank stuff. 

But -- and this is not an insignificant but -- if Belichick truly views Tebow as a fascinating project, the kind of athlete that could eventually be of use at a position of need (on either side of the ball) it is absolutely worth kicking the tires with Elway. As long as the salary is looked at as manageable -- his base salary is $1.1 million in 2012, $1.05 million in 2013 and $670,000 in 2014, though there are also bonuses tied in -- aren't we looking at perfect flyer for a fourth- or fifth-round pick? If Jacksonville or Miami offer more, that's OK and good luck to them (and Tebow in Miami would be a very good thing for the Patriots).

This is what the Patriots do. They turn guys like Tebow into running backs or tight ends or safeties. And sure, this is different. This is arguably the most popular player in the league, a Disney movie still waiting for the perfect ending. And playing H-back probably isn't the script he wants. But as a football player and football player only, the Patriots make all the sense in the world. No one with a football IQ over 60 would ever want to see Tom Brady on the sidelines and Tebow running the offense, that would never be an issue. But we all agree that Tebow is a spectacular athlete. He ran for 660 yards and six TDs last season and is almost impossible to take down one-one-one in the open field. Throw in his quickness and smarts and there has to be some value for a team that doesn't need a quarterback.

I think the Dolphins or Jaguars would be crazy to make Tebow their quarterback of the future. 

But the Patriots would be crazy not to call Elway and see what it would take for Tebow to come to New England.