Eagles sign Garcia

Seeking an upgrade at the backup quarterback position, the Philadelphia Eagles signed free-agent signal caller Jeff Garcia to a one-year deal on Thursday.

"Garcia is a guy who’s had a lot of success in the National Football League," said head coach Andy Reid. "He knows how to win football games and he’s been to the Pro Bowl multiple times. He’s a very smart player and is very familiar with our offensive system. He'll be a great back-up to Donovan (McNabb)."

The 36-year-old quarterback will provide Philadelphia with a quality backup to McNabb, something they were lacking last season.

After McNabb went down November 14th in a loss to Dallas, the Eagles' backup quarterbacks struggled to run the offense efficiently. Mike McMahon completed just 45 percent of his passes (94-of-207) for 1,158 yards with five touchdowns and eight interceptions in nine appearances, which included seven starts. Koy Detmer managed to complete 57 percent of his passes, but threw no touchdowns and three picks.

Philadelphia will be Garcia's fourth team in as many years. In seven NFL seasons, Garcia has completed 61 percent of his passes for 19,076 yards with 126 touchdowns and 71 interceptions. He has appeared in 91 games (86 starts) while serving stints at San Francisco, Cleveland and Detroit. The San Jose State product has also proved to be a threat on the ground, running 370 times for 1,791 yards and 24 scores.

Last year with Detroit, Garcia started five of six games, completing 102 passes for 937 yards with three touchdowns and six interceptions before going down for the season with an injury.