Talk about the circle of life, and the ears of a few NFL quarterbacks might start ringing.

The news item here is that the Jets granted quarterback Drew Stanton’s trade request on Friday, sending the former Michigan State signal-caller to the Indianapolis Colts for an undisclosed draft picks.

Where the circle of life comes in is in the circumstances leading up to, and the results of, Stanton’s quick departure after a cup of coffee in New York.

Stanton was traded to the Colts, as in the same Colts who cut Peyton Manning two weeks ago, allowing Denver to sign Manning to a five-year deal and seek a trade for former starter Tim Tebow.

Of course, Tebow who was traded to the Jets on Wednesday and publicly proclaimed by General Manager Mike Tannenbaum to be the No. 2 quarterback – taking the spot Stanton had been promised when he was signed to a one-year, $1.25 million contract a week ago.

And now, with Stanton in Indianapolis, the three men have simply rotated into one another’s previous locales and completed the bizarre circle.

When the Jets acquired Tebow on Wednesday, Stanton was understandably upset and asked the Jets to either trade or release him, with his agent reportedly giving Tannenbaum a list of preferred destinations that included Indianapolis among a handful of others.

To their credit, the Jets not only paid the $500,000 signing bonus mandated in Stanton’s contract last week, but also made a deal happen less than 48 hours after Tebowmania ran wild.

And so, Manning will lead the Broncos in 2012, Tebow will play behind (and potentially in conjunction with) Mark Sanchez, and Stanton will likely compete with any other acquisitions the Colts might make for the right to back up whichever quarterback – likely Andrew Luck, but possibly Robert Griffin III – they select No. 1 overall in the upcoming NFL Draft.