Four Destinations For Philip Rivers

During his eponymous show today, Rich Eisen put together a rumor roundup of things he heard while at the NFL Combine. He strongly caveated that he was not reporting the information in the segment, just that they were things he heard from all sorts of different football folks gathered in Indianapolis. One of the things he heard was rather... unexpected.

Philip Rivers apparently tried to get back into the NFL late last season and placed calls to the Miami Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers following their QB injury issues.

"We all know two teams that were quarterback-needy at the end of the season. Starting third-stringers and had a chance to go to the playoffs and maybe making a deep run in the playoffs. Referring to the Miami Dolphins and, of course, the San Francisco 49ers. I heard at the Combine, No. 5 on this list, that Philip Rivers contacted both of them to come back late last year. That's what I heard and that's the way I heard it."

Well, I did not have that on my NFL offseason bingo card. Of course, such information begets an article wondering where Rivers might go if he does make his professional football return. Are there teams desperate enough to kick the tires and see if he has anything left?

Miami Dolphins

The Dolphins obviously turned Rivers down if he did indeed give them a call after Tua Tagovailoa went down again late in the year, but they are in a worse spot than the Niners in terms of the QB spot. So they're more likely to say yes a second time around. Skylar Thompson did his best but he did nothing to suggest that Miami is fine if they roll into next year with only him and Tagovailoa on the depth chart. The 2022 season showed that the Dolphins badly need competence behind Tua in case he gets hurt again. They should go with Rivers for his veteran voice. And the content.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Bucs are too screwed cap-wise to take a big swing on a good quarterback who may be available this offseason and won't sniff a decent signal-calling prospect picking in the late teens. This is why there are leaks out there expressing irrational confidence by the front office in 2021 second-round pick Kyle Trask. Tampa Bay is not going to be good this year unless Tom Brady unretires and even then it's a toss-up. So why not be entertaining while it happens by bringing in Rivers for a tryout? It can't be all that worse than starting a guy many believed to be the seventh-best prospect (at best!) in his class.

His Couch

Come on, Philip. What're you doing, man? You made your millions ($243 million, to be exact), you have an infamously large brood of children, and you're coaching high school football in Alabama. You really want to throw all that away to get plastered by gigantic defensive linemen nearly 20 years your junior? Stay at home. Watch the games on the couch in what I assume must be the most impressive man cave in the region. Don't do this.

St. Michael Catholic High School

But if Rivers really cannot shrug off the itch to play again, he's got a whole team at his disposal! Rivers is the head coach at St. Michael Catholic High School in Fairhope, Alabama. They went 5-5 last year so obviously they need a roster upgrade. When a professional football player retires and returns to the state he grew up, he pretty much runs the place, so I can't imagine too much complaining if Rivers were to suit up in lieu of the high schoolers he's supposed to be mentoring. Nope. Cannot forsee any problems at all. It seems like the perfect solution.