Jeff Garcia Rumored to the Oakland Raiders

Mike Florio has it rumored on profootballtalk.com that free agent quarterback Jeff Garcia is drawing real interest from the Oakland Raiders.

This would be an outstanding move in a good off season for the Raiders.  I especially like this move in light of Tom Cable's comments at the NFL Owners' Meeting regarding Jamarcus Russell's preparation.

Say what you want about Jeff Garcia, the guy overachieves just by playing in the NFL.  The only way a guy like Garcia makes it is by working his butt off and he is exactly the kind of guy the Raiders need to push their young franchise quarterback as he learns how to prepare for each week.

How can Jeff Garcia push Jamarcus Russell?  Garcia would compete with Russell the only way he can, by being better prepared.  If Garcia comes into camp with better command of the offense than Russell, everybody would know it, the players, the coaches and eventually the media and fans. 

And nobody would be happy about it.  That puts more positive pressure on Russell than Tom Cable could in a thousand press conferences.

The rumor and signing itself are great tests for Russell, does he accept the challenge like a man or is he a crybaby like Jay Cutler? 

Garcia also upgrades the Raiders current backups in case Russell goes down.  He's a proven veteran with a totally different game than Russell that defenses would have more trouble adjusting to than Andrew Walter. 

Given the number of teams searching for quarterback help these days, landing Jeff Garcia as a backup would be a strong move for the the Oakland Raiders as they develop Jamarcus Russell, their young franchise quarterback.