Game Time Nation (206)

Former New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs will now back up San Francisco 49ers running back Frank Gore after agreeing to a one-year contract Wednesday, a league source confirmed.

Jacobs, 29, rushed for 571 yards and seven touchdowns and caught 15 passes for

The bruising runner was cut by the Giants before he was due a $500,000 roster bonus.

Jacobs was also due a $4.4 million base salary next season.

A former Giants fourth-round draft pick from Souther Illinois, Jacobs has rushed for 4,849 career yards and 56 touchdowns.

Jacobs is an unusually large running back at 6-foot-4, 260 pounds.

However, he’s not coming off one of his better seasons and didn’t draw heavy interest in free agency.

Pat Robertson, televangelist and a leader in the Christian Right movement, said the Denver Broncos treated Tim Tebow “shabbily,” adding an injury to the team’s new quarterback Peyton Manning “would serve them right.”…Robertson came to the aid of the devoutly religious Tebow after the unconventional signal caller was shipped off to the New York Jets in a late evening trade with Denver on Wednesday.

“The Denver Broncos treated him shabbily,” Robertson said on “The 700 Club.”

“He won seven games, he brought them [Denver] into the playoffs, for heaven sakes. I mean, they were a nothing team. He rallied them together with spectacular last-minute passes and, you know, when they beat Buffalo — I mean, Pittsburgh, excuse me — it was a tremendous victory.”

Robertson, who also came to Tebow’s defense in December by blasting a “Saturday Night Live” parody that featured Jesus visiting the NFL star in the Broncos’ locker room, chided Denver for signing four-time MVP Manning despite his missing all of last season after a series of offseason neck surgeries.

“And you just ask yourself, OK, so Peyton Manning was a tremendous MVP quarterback, but he’s been injured. If that injury comes back, Denver will find itself without a quarterback. And in my opinion, it would serve them right,” he said Tebow, who has become one of the most polarizing players in NFL history partly due to his devout Christian faith, led Denver on an improbable run to the AFC West title last season after the team started the season 1-4.

But the former Heisman Trophy winner’s 46.5 completion percentage last season placed significant doubt on his ability to become a prototypical NFL quarterback

Jeremy Shockey was the whistle-blower in NFL’s investigation into the New Orleans Saints pay-for-performance system that resulted in a slew of sanctions Wednesday, according to former NFL defensive lineman Warren Sapp….Sapp wrote on Twitter he “just heard who the snitch was,” and when a follower inquired about the identity, Sapp responded: “Shockey.”

The allegations drew a swift rebuke from Shockey on his Twitter account.

“My ass!!” Shockey wrote. “I don’t even play defense.”

Sapp responded: “That’s not the issue.”

Shockey said the next thing he will be blamed for is the unsolved disappearance of union boss Jimmy Hoffa — who vanished five years before Shockey was born — and the recent scandal at the University of Miami, where players at Shockey’s alma mater allegedly received impermissible benefits.

“(Expletive) them,” Shockey wrote. “Sapp … (knows) where to find me.”…..The league didn’t release what sparked the investigation. Federal labor law protects employees against retaliation as a result of complaining about unsafe work environments…..The fact that Sapp, an analyst for the NFL Network, might have outed a whistle-blower could pose a problem for the league if it’s seen as intimidation. Shockey, who played last season in Carolina, is an unrestricted free agent.

“No person shall discharge or in any manner discriminate against any employee because such employee has filed any complaint or instituted or caused to be instituted any proceeding under or related to this act or has testified or is about to testify in any such proceeding or because of the exercise by such employee on behalf of himself or others of any right afforded by this act,” the 1970 Occupational Safety and Health Act reads.

NFL Network spokesman Dan Masonson said Sapp was unavailable for comment. Masonson also declined to comment on the possible labor law violations.

Even in the offseason, the Miami Dolphins’ quarterback carousel keeps spinning.

After being spurned by Peyton Manning, the Dolphins had a brief, unproductive courtship with Matt Flynn, then turned their attention Sunday to Alex Smith, the San Francisco 49ers free agent.

Smith left the Miami complex after a 5 1/2-hour meeting. Dolphins officials declined to comment on any details about this visit.

The Denver Post reported Sunday that Smith and the Dolphins have begun negotiating.

The 49ers had been working to re-sign Smith but also went to North Carolina last Tuesday to watch Manning work out at Duke. Smith, the No. 1 overall 2005 draft pick, enjoyed his best season in 2011 under first-year 49ers coach Harbaugh, a former NFL quarterback.

Smith and Manning have the same agent, Tom Condon.

A new starting quarterback would be the Dolphins’ 17th since Dan Marino retired following the 1999 season. Winless in postseason since 2000, they made signing Manning their top offseason priority, but he told them Thursday he would sign elsewhere.

Titans owner Bud Adams wants to sign Peyton Manning and says he will do whatever is necessary to persuade the four-time NFL MVP to come to Tennessee, even offering up a job in the front office once his playing career ends…Adams told The Tennessean on Sunday that he has contacted Manning’s agent, Tom Condon, to express his interest and ask for the quarterback to visit the Titans. Manning visited Denver on Friday and spent more than six hours in Arizona on Sunday.

”I want Manning,” Adams said. ”I’d love to see him in Titan blue after watching him so many years with the Colts. … I want him. I am ready to do what it takes to get him aboard, and I think he’d be the guy to get us into the playoffs.”

The 89-year-old owner has watched his franchise miss the playoffs six times in the last eight seasons, with one-and-done postseason appearances in 2007 and 2008.

The last time Adams wanted to add a quarterback, the Titans drafted Vince Young in 2006. The Titans cut Young after the 2010 season in a move team officials convinced Adams had to be made.

New general manager Ruston Webster said twice in the past month that the Titans were happy with their quarterbacks. Tennessee signed Matt Hasselbeck to a three-year deal in July 2011 and used the eighth overall pick in last year’s draft on Jake Locker.

But the Titans went 9-7 in Mike Munchak’s first season as coach, just missing a playoff berth. They also have plenty of salary-cap space, with about $30 million to spend.

And Adams said Manning is the quarterback he wants.

”And the people that work for me understand that,” Adams told the newspaper. ”They know who I want. I want Mr. Manning with the Titans, and I will be disappointed if it doesn’t happen.”

Adams said he hopes Manning looks at the Titans, since the team plays in the same state where the quarterback played in college.