I don't doubt for a second that he started talking to Garcia the moment free agency opened.
I told you some time back in these forums that they would. I wasn't speculating, I was told from a reliable contact that the Bucs would go after Garcia the moment free agency opened. I do not doubt for a moment that Garcia was their first choice and that Plummer was their fallback position. The problem with Garcia is that the Bucs figured Oakland would give him the "starting QB guarantee" that up until this point Coach Gruden had been unwilling to give.
Speculating is fun and trying to un-weave the web of deception and GM-speak that is spouted on these matters is cool and all, but for myself I can only go back to those who I trust to help me make sense of what goes on. And when a trusted contact who would be in a position to know tells me days before free agency opens that the Bucs were targeting Garcia as their QB signing, I have to believe it.