On the way out?

Bucs' McKay talks to Falcons about become their GM

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Tampa Bay general manager Rich McKay took a big step toward leaving the Buccaneers on Thursday.

The embattled Bucs executive interviewed for the Atlanta Falcons' GM job, a sign that he not only wants out, but that the sons of Bucs owner Malcolm Glazer are willing to release him from the final year of his contract.

McKay has been contemplating a move since last Friday when the Glazers vetoed his plan to hire former Baltimore Ravens assistant Marvin Lewis as Tampa Bay's new coach.

The Bucs have been searching for a replacement for Tony Dungy for more than a month.

McKay's departure would leave the team without a coach and GM, fueling speculation that the Glazers are setting themselves up to make another run at luring Bill Parcells out of retirement.

Parcells turned down an offer to take over the team on Jan. 18, McKay made an unsuccessful bid to pry Jon Gruden from the Oakland Raiders and Lewis' candidacy was squashed a day after he had been told the job was his.

McKay, who returned from Atlanta on Thursday night, declined comment at Tampa International Airport.

The Glazers resumed the coaching search this week without input for McKay, who teamed with Dungy to turn around a franchise suffered through 12 consecutive seasons with 10 or more losses.

The Bucs made the playoffs four of the past five seasons under Dungy, who was fired against McKay's wishes on Jan. 14.

The Glazers also tried to bump McKay up to a largely ceremonial post of team president when the owners thought they had a deal to replace Dungy with Parcells.

New York Jets assistant general manager Mike Tannenbaum was Parcells' hand-picked choice for the GM position that McKay has held for seven seasons.

Tannenbaum interviewed with the Bucs, then announced he was staying with the Jets on the same day Parcells told the Glazers he had decided against coming out of retirement.

If McKay leaves, he will be severing ties with an organization that's been part of his life since the mid-1970s when his father, John McKay, left Southern California to coach the expansion Bucs.

The general manager met with the Glazers for two hours on Wednesday and is to meet with them again in a few days when the owners return from a family trip to California.