The Los Angeles Chargers have made it official: they’re done with Philip Rivers. Surely, the feeling is mutual. Rivers is likely to enter free agency, where he’ll command a healthy salary.
Even though this outcome felt inevitable after Jay Glazer suggested (and backtracked) Rivers was ready to leave the Chargers, L.A. doesn’t seem to have an obvious succession plan in place. They have Tyrod Taylor, an established but limited veteran, and Easton Stick, a 2019 fifth-round pick and a solid prompt for a Jeopardy! answer: What scored my goal in hockey?
But the Chargers aren’t without good options. Because they are likely to retain tight end Hunter Henry with an extension or the franchise tag, they have one of the best groups of pass-catchers in the NFL. Henry combined nicely with receivers Keenan Allen and Mike Williams in 2019. The offensive line has problems, but perhaps they can use draft capital and cap space (roughly $50 million) to better that position. If that comes together, they are probably those most compelling quarterback-needy team in the NFL.
So why not go after quarterback Tom Brady? The New England Patriots quarterback is set to test free agency, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. The Chargers are expected to be one of Brady’s suitors. There will be some question as to how Brady’s system would mesh with Anthony Lynn and his coaching staff. But if Brady shows up (with six Super Bowl rings), it’s easy to imagine the Chargers accommodating his systematic needs.
That’s the first obvious solution. They can spend some money on Brady, who is likely to demand a higher salary than Rivers. In turn, L.A. will, in theory, get an upgrade from Rivers. With Brady’s ability to win, L.A. can turn around their franchise which has a history of failing to reach its potential.
If the money doesn’t work with Brady or he decides to play elsewhere (Las Vegas, New England, Tampa Bay or Indianapolis), there’s another obvious solution: the draft. Taylor is good enough to operate as a bridge quarterback — he could stand in while the Chargers develop a younger quarterback. But if L.A. takes a quarterback in the top 10 picks, they probably won’t even need Taylor to take a snap. The Chargers pick at sixth overall, where they could get Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert. If L.A. wanted to get Tua Tagovailoa, it could jump past the Miami Dolphins (a likely landing spot for Tagovailoa) by trading with the Detriot Lions, who should be willing to trade back from No. 3 overall. LSU quarterback Joe Burrow is out of the question (he’ll go at No. 1 overall), but before his breakout season, Tagovailoa was the likely top pick. Most teams would happily settle for the Alabama standout.
The Chargers are willing to part ways with Rivers because their path to replacing him is very clear and, likely, very clean.
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