Getty Philip Rivers may be ready to leave the Los Angeles Chargers.
Philip Rivers may already know something we don’t know.
As the 38-year-old quarterback prepares to enter NFL free agency in 2020, the Los Angeles Chargers quarterback has permanently moved out of San Diego to the state of Florida — possibly signaling the end of his tenure with the Chargers.
In fact, it was Rivers who texted the information to ESPN — although he refused to speculate on his football future.
“What this means football-wise is to be determined but it was time for us to move back closer to home,” Rivers said in the text message.
Via ESPN’s Chris Mortensen and Adam Schefter:
“Philip Rivers has moved “permanently” from San Diego to Florida to be closer to his family, the free-agent quarterback texted to ESPN on Sunday morning.
While his family settles in in the South, Rivers’ football future is unsettled. He is a free agent this offseason, and it appears that he and the Los Angeles Chargers are going their own directions.”
The 16-year veteran quarterback seemed to recognize that he may have played his final game in a Chargers uniform during the team’s regular season finale in December.
“I plan to play football, so yes,” Rivers said on Dec. 29. “Where that is going to be will get sorted out over the next few months. I’ve never been in this position. … I’m very thankful for the 16 years, and if there is another, I’ll be thankful for that.”
Rivers Has Failed To Lead Chargers To a Super Bowl
Rivers has spent his entire career with the Chargers since being selected by the franchise with the fourth overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft. After spending the first two seasons of his career as the backup to starter Drew Brees, Rivers finally took over the starting job in 2006.
In his first season as the Chargers’ starting quarterback, he led the franchise to a 14-2 record and the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs. After leading the Chargers to winning success in his first four seasons as the starter — they were in the playoffs every year from 2006 until 2009 — the past decade has been pretty rough for the former No. 4 overall pick.
While Rivers has been named to eight Pro Bowls during his career, he has led the Chargers to just two playoff appearances since 2010. Despite being the starting quarterback for the past 14 seasons, the Chargers have never advanced to a Super Bowl. In fact, they’ve only advanced to the AFC Championship Game just once in Rivers’ storied career.
Chargers Disappointed During 2019 Season
The franchise has given Rivers a number of opportunities to lead the team to the promised land. In fact, Los Angeles entered the 2019 season as a trendy pick to win the Super Bowl. However, the Chargers never reached expectations despite their talented cast and stumbled to a 5-11 record — the worst in the AFC West.
A lot of the blame was pinned on Rivers as the veteran quarterback threw 23 touchdowns — his fewest since 2007 — along with 20 interceptions, the third-most in the NFL this season.
It isn’t clear where Rivers will end up in 2020, but with a number of teams looking for veterans to either back up or compete with their current starting quarterbacks, Rivers shouldn’t have a hard time finding another gig in the league.