Tim Tebow could be the next Trent Edwards

Last offseason I wrote a post about Mark Sanchez might be the next Trent Edwards. It turned out I was right. After mightily struggling during the Eagles' spring practices in 2014, Sanchez looked much improved in training camp and preseason. After spending a year in the system, Sanchez looked so much better this spring than he did last year. But we're not here to talk about Sanchez today. Instead, we're here to talk about everyone's favorite backup quarterback: Tim Tebow!

Tebow finds himself in a somewhat similar experience to what Sanchez went through last year. The former Florida Gators quarterback really struggled during this year's spring practices. He often took way too long to get a pass off. When he finally did get rid of the ball, he wasn't very accurate at all. Tebow was clearly the worst of Philadelphia's four quarterbacks. Some have suggested the team is wasting a roster spot by keeping him around. Before you jump to conclusions, however, let us recall the story of Trent Edwards:

"The Eagles signed Edwards before their OTA/minicamp period in 2012. He came in as a veteran quarterback who had experience starting the NFL, and once had a promising career in Buffalo, but then suffered injuries and poor play. Edwards was reportedly terrible for the Eagles in OTAs. They reportedly re-worked his entire throwing mechanics.

Edwards flew under the radar during training camp practices that year but then really surprised late in the preseason games. Granted, he was playing against third string players, but he looked sharp and largely mistake-free. Edwards played so well that the Eagles decided to cut Future Hall of Famer the younger Mike Kafka and keep him as their third string QB."

So ... maybe there's a chance that Tebow, like Sanchez and Edwards before him, looks better later this summer.

Would I bet on him to show dramatic improvement? Absolutely not. Tebow has been out of the NFL since the summer of 2013 for a reason. There's a very realistic chance Tebow continues to struggle this summer and ends up not making the final roster.

But all hope is not lost for him. If, and it's a big if, Tebow can actually show some improvement, he could have the edge over Matt Barkley in the battle for the No. 3 quarterback job. Barkley currently looks like the favorite to win the spot. He clearly looked better than Tebow this spring. However, there is ample evidence that the Eagles have been looking to move on from Barkley since last summer.

For Tebow, it's now or never. This is likely his last shot with an NFL team. It'll be interesting to see if he can do enough to stick around.