Jets dump Tim Tebow in a move that surprises few

Tim Tebow’s short tenure as a Jet has come to an unceremonious end, as the team released the backup QB and media sensation after a year in which he rarely played.

“We have a great deal of respect for Tim Tebow,” head coach Rex Ryan said in a statement Monday. “Unfortunately, things did not work out the way we all had hoped. Tim is an extremely hard worker, evident by the shape he came back in this offseason. We wish him the best moving forward.”

Tebow, 25, was informed that he was released Monday morning, when new general manager John Idzik and Ryan dropped the news as Tebow arrived at the Jets’ practice facility for the team’s workout. The former Heisman Trophy winner reportedly stayed behind to finish working out.

Tebow was hailed as a sort-of savior for the team when it was first announced he would join in spring 2012, but his ouster was all but a foregone conclusion. Experts said it was about time.

“Relief,” Jets blogger Joe Caporoso of TurnOnTheJets.com said when asked of his initial reaction to the news of Tebow’s release.

“Releasing Tebow was an important step in removing the circus atmosphere fostered last season,” he said. “It was a logical decision from a football perspective after drafting Geno Smith.”

Still, some fans said that although dropping Tebow was probably the right move, the team never really gave him a legitimate chance to succeed.

“They barely used him, but I’m sure they profited off ticket sales due to having him,” said Keith Nelson Jr., 25, of the Bronx.

“Honestly, they should not have signed him in the first place when they had Mark Sanchez there,” he said, adding it was “disgraceful” how the Jets “used him as a promotional puppet.”

Crystal Hoffman, 27, who works in midtown, agreed, saying the failure of the Tebow experiment was inevitable after the team refused to play him the way it had planned.

She added: “I’m not saying that Tebow is the greatest quarterback, but how could the team possibly know what he was capable of when they never gave him an opportunity to prove himself?”

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