“Virtually Certain” Chargers & Philip Rivers Won’t Reach Agreement On New Deal Before Week 1

Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that it “appears virtually certain” that the Chargers and QB Philip Rivers won’t agree to a new contract before the start of the regular season.

Acee adds that there appears to be “one key sticking point” in regards to contract talks between the two parties, but doesn’t offer any idea of what this issue is.

Rivers has previously expressed concerns about the team possibly relocating to Los Angeles, but you really can’t rule out money as being a potential point of contention.

Sources previously told Jason Cole of B/R that Rivers could secure over $20 million per year as part of a new deal. However, Rivers said that if the two sides don’t make progress on a long-term extension in the next few weeks, he’s likely to end negotiations to prevent it from being a distraction this season.

Rivers also mentioned that he’s completely comfortable playing out the final year of his contract and seeing what happens next year.

Rivers, 33, is entering the final year of his seven-year, $98.25 million contract that included $38.15 million guaranteed. He stands to make a base salary of $15.57 million for the 2015 season.

Despite dealing with some injuries last  year, Rivers was able to put together another solid season for the Chargers in which he threw for 4,286 yards while completing 66.5 percent of his passes to go along with 31 touchdowns and 18 interceptions.

Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 7 quarterback out of 39 qualifying players.