Buccaneers Possible Landing Spot For Philip Rivers?

According to Jason La Canfora, there’s a lot of buzz around Chargers QB Philip Rivers potentially playing for the Buccaneers in 2020. 

• Ben Allbright of Pro Football Network confirms that there has been “an increasing amount of chatter” coming from the Senior Bowl that the Buccaneers could be a landing spot for Rivers.

Per ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, Rivers says his family has permanently moved from San Diego to Florida. Rivers had commuted from San Diego to Los Angeles the past few seasons.

However, he’s not under contract with the Chargers in 2020 and it’s possible Los Angeles elects to move on with someone younger given his struggles with turnovers in 2019. 

“What this means football-wise is to be determined but it was time for us to move back closer to home,” Rivers tells Mortensen. 

Rivers has said he wants to play in 2020 even if it’s with a new team. The Chargers have been doing work on quarterback prospects for a few straight years and some expect the team to have a new signal-caller next year, despite Rivers’ long run with the franchise. 

Rivers would be a good fit for Buccaneers HC Bruce Arians if they decide to move on from QB Jameis Winston this offseason, who’s also slated to be a free agent. Arians has expressed his disinterest in coaching a rebuilding team and Rivers would slot in immediately as an established starter. 

Rivers, 38, is a former first-round pick of the Giants back in 2004. He was later traded to the Chargers in return for Eli Manning.

Rivers is in the final year of his five-year, $99 million contract that includes $65 million guaranteed and stands to make a base salary of $11 million for the 2019 season. He will be an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his NFL career. 

Entering today’s game, Rivers had appeared in 15 games for the Chargers and completed 65.9 percent of his passes for 4,334 yards, 21 touchdowns and eight interceptions.

We have him featured in our Top 50 – 2020 Free Agents list.