Ravens: Please don’t pursue Tebow

The Free Agency period is always a little enticing. There’s always a small glimmer of hope that one big free agent player will sign in Baltimore making the Ravens nearly unstoppable. Imagine if, say, Mario Williams would have signed with the Ravens? That’s, at the very least, 25 sacks a season between two players. But, Williams went to Buffalo, signed a $100 million deal and any thoughts any of us had about a two-man wrecking crew with him and Sizzle vanished. Obviously, that wasn’t a viable option for Baltimore. Something even more farfetched: there were whispers of the Ravens going after Peyton Manning.

Granted, Manning has owned the Ravens since he came into the league in 1998. When Manning has started against the Ravens, he’s 8-0, including playoffs. It’d be nice to have the guy that has consistently beaten your team on your team if the circumstances were right. They

weren’t

aren’t. The Ravens don’t have a lot of cap space and a guy like Manning

garnered

garners a lot of money. Plus, Baltimore has this Joe Flacco guy who’s taking the Ravens to at least the Divisional round of the playoffs all four years he’s been in the league.

Fast-forward to this past Monday, and the Manning-to-Baltimore whispers became mute. For those of you in solitary confinement, Manning signed a five-year, $96 million deal with the Denver Broncos making him the NFL’s highest paid player at $19.2 million a season, or $1.2 million a game. With Manning in, it looks as the virtuous Tim Tebow out. Poor Tim. Despite being celibate his entire life, he’s now on the walk-of-shame end of a one night stand. Tebow brought the Broncos an AFC West championship, a playoff berth, a wild win over the Steelers and a beat down of a loss to the Patriots as a starter. Broncos fans rallied around him in September like they’re doing now in March with Manning. Tebow’s blissful stay in Denver appears to be over. And I bet he doesn’t even get breakfast.

Nothing has been made official by the Broncos V.P. of Football Operations John Elway, but he did say trading Tebow was a possibility. I think it’s very probable. I think if any team out there should trade for Tebow, it’s the Dolphins. If there’s any team out there I think shouldn’t trade for Tebow, it’s the Ravens.

Simply, the Ravens don’t need Tebow. But I have talked with other Ravens fans and football fans in general about the possibility of Tebow donning the purple and black, but it isn’t a good idea. The Ravens are close — very close, in fact — to winning a Super Bowl. They were a catch away by a guy whose name will not be spoken in this blog from securing a spot in Super Bowl XLVI this past season. Baltimore doesn’t need much more to get over the hump. Maybe some depth along the interior offensive line, another receiver or two, a solid dime back and a reliable kicker and they’re there. That’s not asking much.

In actuality, trading for Tebow would actually hurt the Ravens progress towards a second Super Bowl. If you want to make the argument that he’d be able to run a some wildcat or the “Suggs package,” I say look no further than backup Tyrod Taylor. He’s quicker and faster than Tebow, more agile and he throws a pretty nice ball. Tebow possesses great leadership qualities, some will say. Well, so does Lewis, Suggs, Reed, Birk, Boldin … should I go on? And how much would the Broncos want in a trade for Tebow? A third- and a fifth-rounder perhaps? Even if it’s less, it’s still too much. Baltimore has made a name for itself in the draft, finding gems in the mid-to-late rounds. It would be silly for the Ravens to give up a pick(s) for a backup a QB they really don’t need. Save the picks and get depth where its needed, that’s what Baltimore should, and probably will do.

The near future should be interesting for the Ravens and and Tebow. Baltimore has yet to make a splash in free agency, but did host Patriots DE Mark Anderson (10 sacks in 2011) earlier this week and still may go after a receiver. Tebow, however, looks like he needs a new home. The Jets, Jaguars, Packers and Dolphins have been the reported names in the potential Tebow landing spots. As long as Baltimore is not on the list, I’m happy.

Plus, LaQuan Williams wears No. 15, so sorry ’bout it, Tim.