Gilroy
– Jeff Garcia’s whirlwind tour of the NFL continues apace, with
the free agent quarterback set to meet this week with the Oakland
Raiders and work out for the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks,
according to his father, Bobby Garcia.
Gilroy – Jeff Garcia’s whirlwind tour of the NFL continues apace, with the free agent quarterback set to meet this week with the Oakland Raiders and work out for the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks, according to his father, Bobby Garcia.
Garcia, who is currently in Cleveland but planning to return to Gilroy today, will work out for Denver on Thursday and Seattle on Monday, his father said Tuesday night. The ex-Gilroy High, Gavilan, San Jose State and San Francisco 49ers quarterback was released last week by the Cleveland Browns.
Garcia has already worked out for the Detroit Lions and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and he met with Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan Saturday at the National Football League’s scouting combine in Indianapolis.
The Gilroy native’s agent, Steve Baker, said Sunday that there was “a 50 percent chance” Garcia would sign with the Buccaneers, whose head coach Jon Gruden has long been an admirer of the three-time Pro Bowl signal-caller.
“He’s always liked Gruden,” said Bobby Garcia of his son. “Gruden wanted to sign him on the spot, but Jeff said, ‘Coach, I’ve got other opportunities I’ve got to consider first.'”
The elder Garcia said his son had a long telephone conversation Monday with former 49ers coach Bill Walsh, who brought the quarterback to San Francisco after his championship season with the Calgary Stampeders of the CFL.
“They talked about all the places Jeff is visiting, talked about the quarterback coaches at those places,” said Bobby Garcia, adding that Walsh told his son he had the ability to compete for a starting job at any of the clubs that have shown interest.
The elder Garcia said while he son would see the Raiders, Oakland’s offensive schemes were probably not a good fit with Jeff’s particular skills, a problem evident in Cleveland last season.
