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As reported by San Jose Mercury News beat man Daniel Brown, Tim Rattay will take over as the 49ers' starting quarterback next season, which means taking over a job unlike any other in sports. He follows in the footsteps of three-time Pro Bowl selection Jeff Garcia, who followed in the footsteps of future Hall of Famer Steve Young, who followed in the footsteps of perhaps the greatest quarterback ever, Joe Montana.

Rattay, who turns 27 on March 15, has three starts since being drafted in the seventh round in 2000. Last season, he completed 73 of 118 passes for 856 yards and seven touchdowns with two interceptions.

Rattay impressed his bosses enough that when the team released Garcia on Tuesday, the quarterback competition already was over. Rattay gets the nod over second-year player Ken Dorsey.

"This will now become Tim's team," general manager Terry Donahue said.

Head coach Dennis Erickson said: "Tim is very smart. He understands the game and has a good arm. He does a lot of the things I like to do offensively. How good is he going to be? I don't know. We'll have to coach him up and find out."

According to Brown, at 6-foot and 200 pounds, Rattay has roughly the same build as Garcia (6-1, 195) but none of Garcia's scrambling skills. He compensates with an awareness and understanding of the pass rush, a talent he honed by playing against superior teams while at Louisiana Tech.

Rattay threw at least one touchdown pass in 32 of his 33 games at Louisiana Tech. As a senior, he led the nation with 4,943 passing yards and 46 touchdowns.

His assignment with the 49ers is daunting. If the team trades All-Pro receiver Terrell Owens as expected -- and loses Tai Streets to free agency, the most experienced pair of hands on the roster will belong to Cedrick Wilson, who has 50 career catches.

"We'll do different things with Tim," Erickson said. "I've been very flexible in my career, and a lot of that depends on the quarterback."

I'll remind you, however, Rattay comes to the forefront only because Garcia failed to restructure a contract that's just over two years old and refused to take a pay cut from his scheduled $10 million base salary.

"With all the changing dynamics at the 49ers, Jeff felt it was time for a new challenge," Garcia's agent, Steve Baker, told Contra Costa Times staff writer Cam Inman. "He's in the best shape of his career and he's focused on having another Pro Bowl season. ... I believe Jeff will have some very good options."

Donahue talked at length about the 49ers' motives in releasing Garcia: Getting in better, long-term shape to comply with the league's salary cap, a longtime nemesis of the 49ers.

"We're going to be a whole lot healthier from a cap standpoint than we are currently," Donahue said. "The strategy is to go ahead and take our medicine, if you will, temporarily. Even though it might be difficult, we feel we have really good players in this organization. This has to do with cap ramification."

Garcia will still count $10.3 million against the 49ers' 2004 salary cap, but then he'll be off their books. His departure saved the 49ers $1.7 million in much-needed salary cap room.

Asked if he was aware of the 49ers salary cap perils before he took over as coach a year ago, Erickson replied: "Obviously not."

"I'd love to have kept Jeff. He's a great competitor," the coach added. "I would have loved to have another year with him. He'll play another two or three years in this league and be successful. I've always been a fan of his and always will be."

As Inman pointed out, when Erickson returns for his second season, his offense could be without as many as seven starters from a year ago. Garcia, guard Ron Stone, running back Garrison Hearst and left tackle Derrick Deese all have been released; Streets and tight end Jed Weaver become unrestricted free agents today; and Owens is expected to be traded, a move the 49ers and Owens will begin pursuing today, Donahue said.

"I think it's very improbable that he would be back," Donahue said of Owens Tuesday. "Both parties have agreed to pursue a trade very actively in the next 72 hours."

Donahue dismissed a report that the 49ers would accept a draft pick at the end of the first round in exchange for allowing Owens to become an unrestricted free agent.

Owens caught 80 passes for 1,102 yards and nine touchdowns last season -- his lowest totals since 1999. He has been selected to the last four Pro Bowls while feuding with teammates, coaches, the 49ers' front office and the media.

"He's probably better off playing someplace else," Erickson said. "That's pretty obvious. That's been there for a long period of time. ..."