Report: Eagles to sign Garcia
By REUBEN FRANK
phillyBurbs.com
The Eagles plan to sign free agent quarterback Jeff Garcia and release backup quarterbacks Koy Detmer and Mike McMahon, Comcast SportsNet reported last night quoting team sources.
Garcia, who played for new Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg during his record-setting 2000 season with the 49ers, will be joining his fourth team in four years. He spent his first five NFL seasons with the 49ers before single years with the Browns and Lions.
Garcia owns the 13th-highest passer rating in NFL history at 85.8. He will back up Donovan McNabb, who is 20th in NFL history with an 84.1 rating. He went to three Pro Bowls with the 49ers. His 4,278 passing yards and 32 TD passes in 2000 both set franchise records.
McNabb and Garcia have more than record-setting passing performances and Pro Bowls in common - both were blasted by teammate Terrell Owens, whose days with the Eagles are expected to end imminently.
If the Eagles sign Garcia on Monday, the expected first day of free agency, he could technically be Owens' teammate for one day. The Eagles owe Owens $7.5 million on Tuesday.
Garcia, 35, would replace McMahon, who was awful last year in seven starts after McMabb's season ended with a sports hernia. McMahon completed just 45 percent of his passes, the lowest completion percentage by an NFL starting quarterback in seven years.
Detmer ended last year ranked third in the NFL in seniority with his current among all league quarterbacks, behind only Brett Favre and Steve McNair. But in two late-season games in which he got to play a lot - against the Seahawks and Commanders - he performed very poorly, with three interceptions and no touchdowns.
Only two quarterbacks in franchise history - Randall Cunningham and Ron Jaworski - have been with the Eagles longer than Detmer, who was drafted in 1997.
Comcast also reported that the Eagles may bring back linebacker Shawn Barber, released earlier this week by the Chiefs. Barber, 31, spent two injury-plagued seasons with the Chiefs after playing well for the Eagles in 2003.
League and union officials negotiated through the day yesterday and according to published reports were making progress toward a new collective bargaining agreement to go into effect following the 2006 season.
Free agency, originally scheduled to begin just after midnight yesterday morning, is now scheduled to begin just after midnight on Monday.
Reuben Frank can be reached at eagleswriter@yahoo.com.
Maybe there's some validity to this one. All I know is I was very dissatisfied
with McMahon's performance. He just didn't seem to have the killer instinct for scoring touchdowns.
That's why I'm a little excited about the possibility of the Eagles obtaining their run offense. That RB is the Qbs representative on the ground. McNabb needs to refrain from running the ball; unless he's in a scramble situation. However, if D-Nabb goes down, Garcia offers some flexibility in that department also. Perhaps this will be a good fit!
