The Chargers will have their toughest decision to make when the 2019 season comes to an end. The team will have to decide whether or not they will move forward with their quarterback of the past 16 seasons.
Our good friends at Touchdown Wire spoke with a panel of experts (one former head coach, two former general managers and one current general manager) and asked what they thought of the future quarterback situation for each team in the league.
Here is what they thought about the situation in Los Angeles:
This is perhaps the league’s most difficult quarterback situation to assess at this moment. Philip Rivers, 37, is in the last year of his contract. Backup Tyrod Taylor is signed through 2020, but he’s not a long-term answer as the starter. The Chargers likely will try to re-sign Rivers. But it’s time to find his heir apparent. Easton Stick, a fifth-round choice this year out of North Dakota State, is viewed as nothing more than a backup. The Chargers may use an early-round pick on a quarterback with the potential to be a starter. “Keep Rivers if he wants to keep playing. But it’s time to draft a quarterback for the future,” a panelist said. “They’re not going to have a top pick, but they still should be high enough to get a good quarterback.”
Rivers, who will turn 38 in December, is slated to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year. Rivers is coming off a 2018 season, where he threw for 32 touchdowns and only 12 interceptions. But it’s been the exact opposite in 2019.
Rivers has thrown 15 touchdowns and 14 interceptions, which ranks as the second-most in the league. The reason for his poor play has been resulted from an inconsistent offensive line, as well as his own signs of regression, including mental miscues and lack of velocity on his passes.
It’s unfortunate to see a decline in play from a player that has carried the team for such a long time, and it has been done with a below average offensive line for the majority of his professional career.
The Chargers have not addressed the quarterback position in the first four rounds of the draft since Rivers became the full-time starter since 2006.
Los Angeles has Tyrod Taylor and rookie Easton Stick behind Rivers, but there isn’t anything that suggests one of those guys will be the long-term solution, which means that the team could heavily consider one in the 2020 NFL draft.
The way we see it, there are one of three things that will happen.
The Chargers will re-sign Rivers to a short, but large contract and address the offensive line heavily this offseason. They re-sign Rivers and still draft his successor early on. Or, the team lets Rivers walk, they draft a quarterback in the early rounds and let Taylor be the bridge in 2020.
The bottom line is that Los Angeles will have a big decision to make when this offseason rolls around and it will be one of the heftier headlines when that time comes.
[lawrence-related id=30890,30881,30872,30856]