Jets deny talking to Jaguars about possible Tim Tebow trade

Tim Tebow is still a member of the New York Jets, but the NFL trade deadline is still more than 24 hours away.

That gives the Jets plenty of time to move their popular yet little-used backup quarterback if they so choose. It also leaves plenty of time for a multitude of rumors to swirl.

Like the one that popped up Tuesday on Action News Jacksonville, which reported that the Jaguars were talking to the Jets about trading for Tebow.

Such a move would make sense, the report said, because Jaguars owner Shad Khan has publicly said he would have drafted the former Florida quarterback and General Manager Gene Smith attempted to acquire him from the Denver Broncos during the off-season.

And, of course, Tebow grew up in Jacksonville and is loved in Florida, where he won a Heisman Trophy and two national titles with the Gators.

But that report has been shot down multiple times since then, starting with a tweet from the New York Daily News’ Manish Mehta on Wednesday morning that said “Jets and Jaguars have not had any trade discussions involving Tim Tebow, I’m told.”

(If you just heard something that sounded like a huge sigh of relief, it likely came from second-year Jacksonville quarterback Blaine Gabbert.)

The Daily News reported Wednesday that there have been no talks to move Tebow, backing up its report over the weekend that the Jets have no intention of trading him.

That must be great news for all the New York fans clamoring for Tebow to take over for struggling starting quarterback Mark Sanchez, even though Coach Rex Ryan said once again on Sunday that such a move wasn’t going to happen.

So unless Sanchez returns to the form he showed during his first two years in the league and the 3-5 Jets start winning, those “Tebow” chants at MetLife Stadium apparently aren’t going to get any quieter.

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