With his future up in the air to a degree it has never been, here are five teams Philip Rivers could wind up playing for in 2020.
Over his last two games, on the national stages of Thursday night and Monday night, we may have witnessed the beginning of the end for Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers. He has threw seven interceptions against the Oakland Raiders and Kansas City, as they occurred early in each game and then in critical end game situations. The Chargers now sit at 4-7, with close to no playoff hopes left this year.
Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn is remaining committed to Rivers, with the caveat the 37-year old (38 on Dec. 8) is the starting quarterback “right now.” Rivers has started 219 straight games for the Chargers, including playoffs, since he took over as the starter Week 1 of the 2006 season. So a quarterback change is not going to be taken lightly, even if Rivers is clearly diminished and perhaps nearing the end. The similarities between he and the situation of 2004 draft classmate Eli Manning are striking right now.
Rivers is also in the final year of his contract, with no real indication he will retire or has any concern about re-signing with the Chargers when the time is right. But the team has to start forming a plan for the future under center, as a franchise icon’s career winds down.
His future, both immediate over the rest of this season and further down the road, is a growing question regarding Rivers. Here are five teams he could wind up playing for in 2020.
5. Chicago Bears
The Bears are pretty much stuck with Mitch Trubisky for the rest of this season, and due to the cap implications of releasing him he’ll surely be on the roster next year. But that does not mean general manager Ryan Pace should remain fully committed to his premium draft pick quarterback, and some level of competition has to be brought in. Chase Daniel doesn’t qualify.
Heading into the Week 8 Chargers-Bears matchup, and with the trade deadline looming, there was an argument that Rivers was going to be on wrong sideline at Soldier Field. Of course Chicago didn’t pull the trigger on that hypothetical trade, before that game or in the days following before the deadline, and albeit in a slightly different way Rivers hasn’t looked any better than Trubisky over the last two weeks.
But a look to next year puts the Bears in the market for a quarterback on some level. Rivers is a theoretical fit, if the price to sign him is right.