Rivers ponders future with Chargers

[Bolt-O]

Philip Rivers will either be the last "SD Charger" starting QB, or the frst "SD Charger" starting QB in a new stadium. He won't be the next "LA Charger" starting QB.

[BoltBacker]

As far as moving to LA that is BS too. Why would he have too move his family to work up the road a bit. The family would stay right where they are and he commutes a bit during the season. It is not like the Chargers are moving to St. Louis. They probably aren't going anywhere.

[Sec-E4]

PR, being the good Christian and family man that he is, isn't gonna move his children to LA. No way. And he wont' exactly so the hired gun route either. There may be a few teams he would consider renting himself to for a Championship run, but there are even more teams that he just would not consider at this point in his career. He'd just retire. He is not willing to be away from his wife and kids, and he is not willing to live in a place where he questions the quality and way of life. It was brought up during the season and I'll say it again. PR will retire before he allows himself and his body to be beat up to the point that it affects his family life. He plays 3 more years, tops.

You make it sound like L A is a out of a scene in Robo Cop...L A isn't to different than San Diego. It's not like he has to live in Hollywood or by Echo Park. These are all assumptions based off of an interview where Rivers simply said that he's going to play out the last season of his contract and take it from there. I bet Rivers is wondering how everyone thought there was some cryptic message in what he said the other day.

[Sec-E4]

PR, being the good Christian and family man that he is, isn't gonna move his children to LA. No way. And he wont' exactly so the hired gun route either. There may be a few teams he would consider renting himself to for a Championship run, but there are even more teams that he just would not consider at this point in his career. He'd just retire. He is not willing to be away from his wife and kids, and he is not willing to live in a place where he questions the quality and way of life. It was brought up during the season and I'll say it again. PR will retire before he allows himself and his body to be beat up to the point that it affects his family life. He plays 3 more years, tops.

You make it sound like L A is a out of a scene in Robo Cop...L A isn't to different than San Diego. It's not like he has to live in Hollywood or by Echo Park. These are all assumptions based off of an interview where Rivers simply said that he's going to play out the last season of his contract and take it from there. I bet Rivers is wondering how everyone thought there was some cryptic message in what he said the other day.

Only Rivers knows what he's going to do...Funny how dudes are predicting what he's going to do, Just based off of him being a Christian. Is L A Sodom or Gomorrah??

[TTK]

As far as moving to LA that is BS too. Why would he have too move his family to work up the road a bit. The family would stay right where they are and he commutes a bit during the season. It is not like the Chargers are moving to St. Louis. They probably aren't going anywhere.

If the Chargers move, Rivers ain't going to drive up to Carson every day for work.

[TTK]

http://www.boltsfromtheblue.com/2015/3/18/8245033/philip-rivers-wants-the-chargers-in-san-diego

Philip Rivers wants the Chargers in San Diego

El Capitan just struck the biggest blow for keeping the Chargers in San Diego.

Kevin Acee of the UT San Diego published a rather remarkable article yesterday, regarding Philip Rivers and his current lack of interest in signing a long-term extension with the Chargers. First, consider the quote provided by General Manager Tom Telesco, following the end of the 2014 Regular Season:

"We are committed to making sure Philip retires as a Charger, and we will address that at the appropriate time." - Tom Telesco on 12/31/14.

It seems to me the Chargers were very clear about wanting Rivers to stick around. However, this is what Rivers said in the Acee article yesterday:

"What I can control and all I know as of today, I am signed up for one more year...I guess things could change, but with all the uncertainty in many aspects, I don't see (his decision not to sign an extension) changing before camp gets here, and when camp gets here I'm even more certain to play it out." - Philip Rivers 3/17/15.

That quote was followed by this quote:

"What we've established (in San Diego) with my growing family is hard to re-create. It's hard to up and re-create that. I know that moves are part of life. But that certainty is fair to say that (not being sold on moving to Los Angeles) is part of it. The good thing is I'm not under contract in a year where we'd potentially be in Los Angeles." - Philip Rivers 3/17/15.

Quotes like these coming from Rivers is unprecedented.

Rivers is very much a team-first guy. He doesn't like to embarrass the organization, he doesn't like to create controversy, and he doesn't exert leverage like this publicly.

Which means Rivers does not want to play for the Los Angeles Chargers. Period.

So, where does this leave the Chargers?

In a bad spot, honestly. Here are the reasons why.

1. The Chargers do not currently have an heir apparent on the roster, which means if they can't persuade Rivers to stay past 2015, they'll need to find a new starting QB.
2. There are currently no Free Agent QBs worth pursuing.
3. The 2014 draft class has 1 advanced talent at QB (Florida State's Jameis Winston), one high-risk, high-reward talent at QB (Oregon's Marcus Mariota), and then a lot of question marks.
4. The Chargers are drafting at 17 in the 1st Round, and both Winston and Mariota will likely be off the board by that time.
5. Rivers declaring openly that he doesn't want to play in Los Angeles lowers his potential trade value.
6. Because of his pending Free Agency in 2016, Rivers has what amounts to a no-trade clause (i.e. no team will give up big assets for Rivers without some assurance he'll sign an extension).
7. The Chargers will have a much harder time selling a stadium to the public in San Diego if Rivers is off-loaded as part of a Los Angeles contingency plan.
8. The Chargers, already the least popular of the 3 potential Los Angeles possibilities, will be an even harder sell in Los Angeles if they go from a 8-10 win playoff contender to a 3-6 win rebuilding team.

If nothing else, Rivers' lack of interest in Los Angeles is clearly the reason the Chargers have scheduled a private workout with Mariota in the next few weeks. They haven't scheduled anything with Winston as of yet, either because they know they can't draft him (i.e. Tampa Bay has already made it clear they're taking him 1st, or the Chargers are scared off by Winston's off-field issues).

Also, I'd like to think Chargers Owner Dean Spanos would have made sure the most important asset of his franchise was on-board with going to Los Angeles BEFORE he made his play for Los Angeles, because the team could have moved Rivers earlier (i.e. before he went public) and retained maximum leverage.

Consider the following possibilities:

If everything goes well in San Diego, the Chargers stay put and Rivers is either signed to an extension through 2020, or is Franchise Tagged in 2016.

On the other hand, here's Spanos' worst nightmare: The Chargers aren't able to draft Winston or Mariota, San Diego's citizens give Spanos the middle finger over Rivers' departure following the 2015 season, and then Kroenke wins the race to Los Angeles.

In Closing

Dean Spanos is between a rock and a hard place with the stadium business, and the effects have finally hit the football operations side of the franchise.

Telesco has to secure the future of the franchise, which means he has to put Rivers on the trade block and see what he can get for him before the draft.

If the Chargers move Rivers for either Winston or Mariota (or less), the Chargers will face a fan revolt in San Diego, just as the Citizens' Stadium Advisory Group (CSAG) is about to release a financing plan. As bad as that is, imagine if the Chargers can't land Winston or Mariota, Rivers leaves San Diego in 2016 over the uncertainty with Los Angeles, and the Rams get to Los Angeles first, killing all of Spanos' leverage and what little goodwill is left in San Diego disappears.

Philip Rivers just made the first real power play of his San Diego career, and whether he intended it or not, it was a play to keep the franchise in San Diego.

[BoltBacker]

If the Chargers move, Rivers ain't going to drive up to Carson every day for work.

Your right, he would probably fly.

[TTK]

Your right, he would probably fly.

Get the Spanos jet ready.

[QSmokey]

This is why the off-season is so much more fun for me than the regular season. All kinds of interesting tidbits of news.

If Spanos is serious about moving to LA, it might be best for him to move Rivers NOW.

[richpjr]

This is why the off-season is so much more fun for me than the regular season. All kinds of interesting tidbits of news.

If Spanos is serious about moving to LA, it might be best for him to move Rivers NOW.

If they are just giving the task force lip service and are holding off to sell as many tickers as possible before they are an official lame duck, than trading him and now and taking their lumps with Mariota this season would make a bit of sense.

How depressing...

[TTK]

This is why the off-season is so much more fun for me than the regular season. All kinds of interesting tidbits of news.

If Spanos is serious about moving to LA, it might be best for him to move Rivers NOW.

And he'll have empty stadiums here in 2015 and in LA in 2016.

[QSmokey]

And he'll have empty stadiums here in 2015 and in LA in 2016.

I wouldn't want to be in Spanos' shoes right now (OK, I guess being a billionaire would be THAT bad ).

All kidding aside, only Spanos and his closest allies know what he has up his sleeve, which makes for some interesting speculation. This whole LA thing has thrown a huge wrench into whatever plans the Front Office might have had going into the off-season. It's almost like a college team trying to recruit in the off-season before sanctions are to begin.

I wonder if all this uncertainty has had anything to do with some of the lack of FA activity (that I perceive there to be). Maybe that's why AJohnson decided to sign with Indy; or Royal with Chicago.