MOBILE, Ala. — Ten months after the Jets traded for Tim Tebow, the move has become a hot topic again.
An ESPN report this week quoted Ted Sundquist, who interviewed for the Jets general manager job, saying Jets owner Woody Johnson told him the Tebow trade was “forced” on him by his front office, namely former GM Mike Tannenbaum.
A league source with direct knowledge of the trade said though Tannenbaum was the driving force behind the move, there is no way it can be characterized as being “forced” on Johnson.
“He owns the team,” the source said. “All he had to do was say ‘no.’ Nothing is ever forced on Woody.”
The source said it is true Tannenbaum is the member of the Jets organization who came up with the idea of trading for Tebow once the Broncos signed Peyton Manning. The source said once Tannenbaum came up with the idea, several members of the Jets organization tried to talk him out of the trade, saying Tebow was not an accurate passer. But Tannenbaum was not swayed.
“The thing picked up steam quick,” the source said.
Tannenbaum, who has not talked to reporters since being fired Dec. 31, declined to comment.
According to the ESPN report, Johnson told Sundquist he was on board shortly after the trade came up.
Tannenbaum said during the season he viewed Tebow as a backup quarterback capable of doing many other things for the team — such as zone-read option and wildcat plays. That role never materialized. Tebow played just 74 snaps (7 percent of the team’s total) during the season. Tebow ended up being a distraction, through no fault of his own, as a constant subject for the media.
It is unclear how head coach Rex Ryan felt about the trade at the time. Publicly he always has said he supported it, but Tebow’s limited playing time makes that hard to believe.
The Jets hired John Idzik to replace Tannenbaum last Friday. The Jets are expected to release Tebow next month. The question then will be whether any team takes a chance on Tebow, who helped the Broncos win the AFC West in 2011.
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