football

Eagles Release Quarterback Tim Tebow

Two days after he lit up the Jets’ backups in the preseason finale at MetLife Stadium, Tim Tebow was released Saturday by the Eagles.

One day earlier, the Eagles traded Matt Barkley to the Cardinals in exchange for a seventh-round pick that will disappear if Barkley is no longer on the Cards’ roster going into the sixth week of the season.

The moves leave the Eagles with just Sam Bradford and Mark Sanchez at quarterback on the depth chart, although certainly more moves are possible.

Tebow, who had been out of football the last two years, struggled early in training camp and didn’t do anything notable in the first three preseason games.

But on Thursday night, the 28-year-old southpaw was 11 for 17 for 189 yards with two touchdowns, an interception and 32 rushing yards on four carries in two quarters of action.

He made some accurate timing throws that we hadn’t seem him make throughout the offseason and preseason games, and the combination of his progress and the Barkley trade made it seem likely the Eagles would keep him.

But roster spots are like gold, and Chip Kelly had other plans. So either the Eagles will go with two quarterbacks or they’ll bring in a castoff from another team. The possibility remains Tebow could be back. The Eagles did try to trade him before releasing him, and unless a team claims him off waivers, he’ll be on the street, available in case the Eagles do need quarterback help down the line.

Tebow has not started a regular-season game since 2011 with the Broncos. He was with the Jets in 2012 but threw only eight passes. And after being released by the Patriots after training camp in 2013, he went into broadcasting.

In his career, Tebow has 17 touchdown passes and nine interceptions but has completed just 47.9 percent of his passes.

This preseason, he was 21 for 36 [58.3 percent] for 286 yards with the two TDs and one INT.

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