Philip Rivers Plans To Play Two Years “Maximum”

Chargers QB Philip Rivers tells Sam Farmer that he plans to try to play for two more years — at most — for his next team before calling it quits on his NFL career. 

“I can say for certain that if I’m playing, it’s a two-year maximum,” Rivers said. “Whoever the suitors are, I think that would be their hope as well. Because you never know how it goes. Shoot, if we stink it up after one year, I’m probably done. If we play really good, they’ll probably want to go again.” 

Rivers added he’s not limiting his options to teams that are clear Super Bowl contenders, though that’s obviously a goal. He did say he wasn’t interested in playing for a rebuilding team. 

“Certainly you want a chance to win a championship, but it’s not just about that. If you told me right now, ‘You’re going to play for two years, and you’re going to be good. But y’all will not win a Super Bowl. Will you still play?’ Heck yeah, I’ll still play,” Rivers said. “So it’s not like it’s a Super Bowl or nothing. But if it’s a team where it’s going to be tough sledding and they’re two years away from even having a chance, and they led the league in most sacks given up or something, then it’s, ‘I don’t think so, guys.'”

Rivers made it clear that he believes he can still play despite throwing the third-most interceptions in the NFL last season. The Chargers finished 5-11. 

“Some people might disagree that I can still play,” Rivers said. “But I would say I definitely can do it. I cleaned up a few of those other things, and if I’m playing consistently, I can still do it physically.”

The Colts have been widely speculated as a logical landing spot for Rivers, with the Buccaneers and Titans other potential options. 

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 just finished 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. 

In 2019, Rivers appeared in all 16 games for the Chargers and completed 66 percent of his passes for 4,615 yards, 23 touchdowns and 20 interceptions. 

We have him included in our Top 100 – 2020 Free Agents list.