Tim Tebow is joining Eagles

ORDINARILY, THE signing of a quarterback who hasn't played in 2 years and who completed less than half of his passes when he did would merit about as much attention as Jason Kelce getting jock itch.

But when the quarterback happens to be Tim Tebow, well, as you can see from our front and back pages today, it gets the-Pope-is-coming treatment.

Tebow hasn't proven to be a very good NFL quarterback, but he still has managed to achieve Kardashian-like celebrity status, which is why Twitter nearly blew up last night when the news broke that the Eagles had agreed to a deal with the former Heisman Trophy winner.

I don't have a big problem with the decision by Chip Kelly to bring him in. Yeah, it's going to turn the Eagles' spring OTAs and summer training camp - which already figured to give the Ringling Brothers a run for their money - into even more of a circus. But the only possible danger with that might be a player or coach getting trampled by the extra large media mob that will be covering the festivities. And that's nothing Chip's army of sports scientists can't deal with.

"I'm not sure I'd want to deal with that kind of distraction for a guy who, at best, is going to be your third quarterback," an NFC personnel executive said. "But if it doesn't bother Chip Kelly, more power to him."

The Eagles worked out Tebow last month and were very impressed with the improvement he had made in his throwing mechanics and footwork after spending several months working with renowned passing coach Tom House.

Kelly clearly isn't married to the idea of Matt Barkley being the team's No. 3 quarterback behind Sam Bradford and Mark Sanchez, which is good. And he obviously was less than enthralled with every quarterback in next week's draft not named Marcus Mariota.

So, he figures he has nothing to lose by bringing in Tebow. If the guy indeed has finally fixed the flaws in his throwing motion, which remains to be seen, then maybe he can beat out Barkley, and maybe he can give Kelly an occasional zone-read weapon.

If he can't beat out Barkley, then Kelly can simply cut him in August, just in time for him to get back to his analyst job on ESPN's SEC Network.

Tebow was the Denver Broncos' surprise first-round pick in 2010. A year later, he started 11 games for them, and despite completing just 46.5 percent of his passes and averaging only 6.4 yards per attempt, he helped Denver make the playoffs and win a game.

It was all downhill after that, though. He was traded that offseason to the Jets and started just two games in 2012 before getting released. He signed the next summer with Bill Belichick and the Patriots. But after completing just 11 of 30 passes in three preseason games, he was released.

The Eagles were expected to select a quarterback at some point in next week's draft and have him compete with Barkley for the No. 3 job. But that probably is unlikely now that they've signed Tebow. Although with Kelly, you never know.

While we obviously are making a big deal of Tebow's signing because of who he is, the truth is this isn't a story you should waste a whole lot of time thinking and talking and tweeting about in the coming days and weeks and months.

It's more style than substance. More Bieber than Bradford. There are a lot of big stories on this team right now. A new starting quarterback who is coming off two ACL injuries. Two new running backs. A new right guard. An unsettled wide-receiver situation. Five new starters on defense.

Tim Tebow? Even if Diane Sawyer drops by to do a 2-hour interview with him, try to maintain some perspective. Try to pay attention to what's really important with this team.

On Twitter: @Pdomo

Blog: ph.ly/Eagletarian.com