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Tim Tebow cut by Philadelphia Eagles, who will add another quarterback

Eric Edholm

Chip Kelly had us going for a bit there.

Quarterback Tim Tebow has been cut by the Eagles (first reported by ESPN's Adam Schefter) as they whittle their roster down to the league-mandated 53 this week.

Tebow had a solid final showing in the preseason and appeared to be on solid footing after the Eagles traded Matt Barkley — who appeared to be Tebow's biggest competition for a roster spot — to the Cardinals on Friday. But Kelly said even though Tebow improved, it wasn't enough to earn him a spot on their roster.

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“Tim’s really progressed, but we didn’t feel like he was good enough to be the three right now,” Eagles head coach Chip Kelly said. “He just needs to get out there and get more reps.”

The Eagles now will go with two quarterbacks, Sam Bradford and Mark Sanchez, for now, but Kelly said a third will be added — either to the active roster or the practice squad.

“We’re going to add a third quarterback. If we add him to the active we won’t add a practice squad quarterback, if we add him to the practice squad we won’t add one to the roster. We won’t have four quarterbacks,” Kelly said.

Keep an eye on Christian Ponder, who was cut by the Oakland Raiders; NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported that the Eagles have interest in him.

Tebow's NFL career, meanwhile, is on life support. This appeared to be his best chance to revive his once-intriguing NFL career, which featured a slew of comebacks and buzzworthy performances with the Denver Broncos, but fizzled there once they acquired Peyton Manning and sent Tebow packing following a playoff loss in the 2011 season.

He now has been cut the past few seasons by the New York Jets, New England Patriots and Eagles and a return to broadcasting for ESPN or the SEC Network would appear to be in the offing.

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Could Kelly reach out to Tebow for a lifeline if the injury-prone Bradford goes down or things dramatically change? Maybe, but it appears very unlikely based on Kelly's comments.

You can bet that the ever-determined former Heisman Trophy winner, who has never waivered in his desire to continue on in the NFL, will continue to stay in shape and hope for one more shot. But for now, Tebow is not in the NFL — he last played a regular-season game on Dec. 30, 2012, nearly a thousand days ago — and we frankly wonder if or when that next chance might ever come.

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!