Bucs Say Goodbye to Jeff Garcia

In an announcement that is pretty much only confirming the obvious, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have decided to officially part ways with quarterback Jeff Garcia. The 39-year-old started 12 games for Tampa in 2008 and completed nearly 65 percent of his passes for a Buccaneers team that finished a disappointing 9-7.

After Luke McCown was re-signed to a two-year contract extension earlier in the offseason, it was a pretty good indication that Garcia's time in Tampa Bay was coming to an end.

From Rick Stroud of the St. Petersburg Times:

"I'm not under contract and I'm about to hit free agency and that means it's time again for me to just move on,'' Garcia said. "It is disappointing because I enjoyed the atmosphere and the team environment in that locker room...Change is needed at times. Sometimes it's how you tweak it, not change it. With a new head coach, they want somebody pulling the trigger that they can mold. Beyond that, I don't know why they're making the move.''

So, where will Garcia land next? With a number of teams across the league in need of a starting quarterback there should be no shortage of options.

The obvious choice? The Minnesota Vikings. Replacing the two-headed monster of Gus Frerotte and Tarvaris Jackson with an accurate, tough quarterback that almost never turns the football over could turn the Vikings into a legitimate Super Bowl contender in the NFC. How much longer can they waste Adrian Peterson's prime years with inferior quarterback play?

A similar argument could be made for another NFC North team, the Chicago Bears.

Regardless of where he ends up, Garcia will be playing for his sixth team in the past seven years, though, it's hard to understand why. Over the past three seasons Garcia has completed 64 percent of his passes while throwing 35 touchdowns to only 12 interceptions. That calculates to a passer rating of 92.9.

Get on the phone, Minnesota.