Philip Rivers Openly Recruited By AFC Contender
Philip Rivers is being openly recruited by an AFC contender. No one is trying to be discreet. There is very little subtlety. Both parties are interested, and neither is being shy about it.
The Indianapolis Colts have expressed a serious desire to make Rivers their next starting quarterback.
Last year, the Colts were caught off guard by the abrupt retirement of then-franchise quarterback, Andrew Luck. Forced to come up with a quick solution, the team installed Jacoby Brissett as a starter.
Brissett was on a very team friendly deal, but management did not seem particularly enthralled with him from start to finish.
The 27-year-old recorded 2,942 yards, eight touchdowns and six picks on a 61 percent completion rate.
Unfortunately, those stats are a tale of two halves. After returning from injury, Brissett threw for only four scores and only had two outings where he recorded a minimum of 200 passing yards.
When the year ended, the Colts were not enthusiastic about him returning as the starter.
According to @JFowlerESPN, NFL executives believe the #Colts will explore the idea of signing QB Philip Rivers this offseason.
HC Frank Reich and OC Nick Sirianni coached Rivers in San Diego during the 2014-15 seasons. pic.twitter.com/0fvnIGhcOr
— Locked On Colts Podcast (@LockedOnColts) January 1, 2020
“The jury is still out, that’s why we did the short term deal with Jacoby,” general manager Chris Ballard said.
“But, for now, yes, he is our starting quarterback.”
That is not effusive praise, obviously.
Part of the reason why Indianapolis may be so lukewarm on Brissett is because they believe a better option is available.
Last week, Rivers and the Los Angeles Chargers mutually agreed to go their separate ways. The decision was not necessarily a surprising one, but it will still be odd to see Rivers suit up in something other than a Chargers uniform.
“After stepping back a bit from last season, we reconnected with Philip and his representatives to look at how 2019 played out, assess our future goals, evaluate the current state of the roster and see if there was a path forward that made sense for both parties,” said General Manager Tom Telesco.
“As we talked through various scenarios, it became apparent that it would be best for Philip and the Chargers to turn the page on what has truly been a remarkable run.
According to a recent report from Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, both Colts head coach Frank Reich and offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni are big fans of Rivers’ due to their past experience with him. The group spent time together in 2014-15 as members of the then-San Diego Chargers.
Sirianni has been described as “recruiting” Rivers to the Colts by some sources.
Last year, Rivers recorded 23 touchdowns and 20 interceptions in a disappointing campaign with the Chargers. Both sets of numbers are some of the worst of his career.
That said, most people are brushing off the poor performance as a byproduct of the Chargers’ general dysfunction.
At the moment, at least, is not being associated with the traditional age-related drop off that quarterbacks often experience in their late 30s.
For what it is worth, Rivers’ now-former teammate, Melvin Gordon, also believes his old quarterback will end up with Indianapolis.
“I think he goes to the Colts,” the star running back said recently.
“I don’t know, that’s just my thought.”
Gordon also pointed to the connection between Rivers and Sirianni.
“He has [connections],” Gordon continued.
“Nick, he came from here, we had him, and he’s the offensive coordinator there. They run the same playbook, so it’d be easy, he could come right in and he could be telling guys what to do, he knows what’s going on already.”
Where will Rivers ultimately end up? Free agency officially kicks off mid-March. At that point, Rivers will likely be one of the first dominoes to drop.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
