Raiders Could Make a Run for Jeff Garcia

In an earlier post, I made the case that the Raiders should take a quarterback with their first-overall pick unless some team is willing to mortgage its future for the rights to JaMarcus Russell or Brady Quinn. I still believe this, but here's a potential wrinkle:

Further proof [the team will draft a quarterback] comes in the Raiders' pursuit of former 49ers starting quarterback Jeff Garcia as one of their top priorities once the free-agency period begins... The Raiders are in a position to offer Garcia a starting job, at least for next season. [Andrew] Walter struggled in his eight starts last season, and he is anything but a cinch to replace [Aaron] Brooks.

Garcia is the beneficiary of a great half-season performance with the Eagles and he is about to parlay that into a nice little payday, even though he's 37 years old.

Oakland was wise to jettison Brooks, and signing Garcia for the short-term – assuming they draft a quarterback – also seems smart ... almost too smart. The only problem, though, is that the Raiders offense still needs a lot of work. Nobody – Garcia, Tom Brady, Jim Plunkett – would've had success with the 2006 team, and 2007 might not be much different. But with no need to rush the franchise quarterback onto the field (again, assuming they draft one), Oakland can slowly rebuild a team that has, well, been dreadful the last four seasons.