Getty Philip Rivers could be ready to move on to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
It looks like Philip Rivers could be eyeing his new NFL home.
Rivers has played his entire 16-year career with the Los Angeles Chargers. However, after another disappointing season and with Rivers’ contract up, the Chargers and Rivers are likely heading their separate ways.
The latest news on Rivers has seen him take his first steps towards a possible departure from the Chargers by permanently moving to the state of Florida. According to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports, there’s another possible reason for this — Rivers could be looking at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as his next NFL home.
Hearing a lot of buzz about Tampa as a possible landing spot for Philip Rivers. As reported back in late November, he and the Chargers were likely headed to a parting of the ways
Bucs Could Be Ready To Move On From Jameis Winston
Prior to their Week 16 loss to the Houston Texans, it had been reported that Tampa Bay would be re-signing Jameis Winston for the 2020 season. However, after a disastrous end to the season that saw Winston throw three touchdowns against six interceptions, there is a major question mark as to whether or not the Bucs have changed their thinking on re-signing their starting quarterback.
Head coach Bruce Arians gave a cryptic quote regarding Winston’s future following the Bucs’ season-ending loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
“If we can win with this [quarterback], we can definitely win with another one, too,” Arians said at the season-ending press conference.
Winston had the definition of a bunch of highs and lows during the regular season. The sixth-year quarterback threw 30 touchdowns against 30 interceptions while throwing for 5,109 yards — the eighth-highest in NFL history.
Rivers Could Be Short-Term Option For Bucs
La Canfora isn’t the only one hearing these Rivers-to-Bucs rumors. That would be because Benjamin Albright is also hearing these same rumors. With all of this said, the 38-year-old Rivers — who will be 39 during the season — would represent a short-term option for the Bucs.
That would be because Tampa Bay is looking at quarterbacks for the 2020 NFL Draft with Washington Huskies QB Jacob Eason being thrown out there as a possible choice.
Team executives are down in Mobile for the Senior Bowl and already, PFN Insider @AllbrightNFL is hearing chatter regarding Philip Rivers to the #Buccaneers.
But he’s also hearing who the Bucs and Chargers are taking a good look at in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Rivers had one of the worst seasons of his career in 2019. The veteran quarterback threw 23 touchdowns against 20 interceptions — fourth-most in the NFL — and led the Chargers to a dismal 5-11 record. That’s disappointing considering the Chargers were coming off of a playoff season in 2018 and were pegged by some as Super Bowl contenders.
As mentioned earlier, Rivers did move his permanent home residence from California to Florida.
“What this means football wise is to be determined but it was time for us to move back closer to home,” Rivers said in a text, according to Chris Mortensen.
As Tom Krasovic of The San Diego Union Tribune cited, the Bucs and Indianapolis Colts represent the best fits for the skill set of Rivers.
“Other than the Chargers, the Indianapolis Colts and Tampa Bay Bucs would seem the best of the candidates for Rivers, who’ll turn 39 in the final month of the 2020 season. The Colts employ two former Chargers coaches known to admire Rivers, in head coach Frank Reich and offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni, and have two very good interior blockers. The Bucs feature two stellar, aggressive pass-catchers, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, who are fits for Rivers’ turn-it-loose style.”
With Rivers looking to continue his football career and the Bucs at least looking for someone who could potentially replace the erratic Winston, the Rivers-to-Bucs scenario would make a lot of sense.