Packers release Desmond Bishop and Jets paying more for Tim Tebow than Patriots

The Packers have released linebacker Desmond Bishop after the two sides reportedly couldn't agree on a restructured deal. As a result, the 28-year-old is now a free agent, although it doesn't look like he'll be unemployed for long.

Vikings will make a "strong run" at Bishop, who would likely supplant Erin Henderson in the starting lineup. He's expected to visit the team on Tuesday.

Bishop missed the 2012 season after rupturing his right hamstring, but tells the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he's now "completely healthy," and is "definitely going to be ready for training camp Day 1."

Bishop conceded that his release was "the smart thing to do" from the Packers' standpoint.

“It was just the timing of [the injury] and the emergence of Brad [Jones],” he said. “From a business standpoint, how could you get rid of a healthy player like Brad or AJ [Hawk] and you're putting your faith in a player who is coming off of an injury? So you can understand. It's understandable. That's just how it goes."

In 2011, Bishop was one of the Packers' best defenders, racking up 115 tackles, five sacks, and two forced fumbles in 15 starts.

Tim Tebow may no longer be physically present on the Jets' roster but he won't be soon forgotten. Not so much for what he accomplished in his one season with the team -- he was 6 for 8 for 39 yards, and 23 of those yards came on a fake punt in Week 6 -- but for everything else, including the money the Jets are still doling out for Tebow.

Last week, the Patriots signed Tebow to a two-year contract with no guarantees. The deal will reportedly pay him $1.36 million total, and the Jets are no longer on the hook for Tebow's salary. But (you knew that was coming) Cimini adds that New York is still making payments to the Broncos -- $1.53 million, to be precise -- as part of last spring's trade agreement.

"In other words," Cimini wrote Sunday, "the Jets are paying more for a ghost than the Patriots will pay over two years for the actual player -- if he makes the team."

Of course, Patriots owner Robert Kraft has made it clear that he's a huge Tebow fan.

"We want high-quality people who work hard, are team players," Kraft said on CNBC recently. "I don't think there is a nicer person that I've ever met, and now he'll get to compete with all the other people at the position, and our hope is that he's on our 53-man roster."

Jets coach Rex Ryan, who had no idea how to use Tebow last season, says he'd be fine with Tebow making the Pats' final 53, too -- especially if he replaced Tom Brady in the starting lineup. And while that's not happening, you can pretty much bank on Bill Belichick using Tebow in new and exciting ways to embarrass the Jets. Fun starts in Week 2 when the Pats host the Jets on Thursday Night Football.

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