The Buffalo Bills have a pretty interesting offseason ahead of them. Philip Rivers may want out of the Los Angeles Chargers, and could fit with Buffalo.
The Los Angeles Chargers (who just recently announced that they would make the move from San Diego further south in the state) may have made their quarterback Philip Rivers very unhappy by leaving San Diego.
Rivers made his name in the NFL in front of the San Diego fans. Last season, with rumors of the team moving to LA lingering, he had an emotional final few moments after the last home game of the season concluded. The team wouldn’t end up moving after that season, but did announce the move this year.
Now, in a move from San Diego that seems motivated by money, Rivers wants out. According to David J. Barclay III, Rivers has expressed that he wants out of the move as the team goes through this transition period.
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With the Buffalo Bills quarterback situation in an interesting spot, Rivers may be a welcomed addition to the team as they enter a new era with a new head coach in Sean McDermott.
If the Bills can’t seem to find a quarterback that wants to come to Buffalo and that fits with what they’re trying to do, the team does have a decent fallback plan in Tyrod Taylor, the quarterback that they currently have on contract. Taylor is going to get paid a heck of a lot more money this upcoming season compared to last year, and his previous season didn’t make it clear whether or not he’s worth that money for the Bills, especially with so many question marks in other places on the roster.
Sal Cappaccio, sideline reporter for the Bills radio broadcast, suggested that the Bills at least give Rivers a call and see if there’s a deal that can be arranged that would bring Rivers to Western New York.
I doubt he'd want to go too far east, but hey, make the call. 📞 https://t.co/kW8lkMUK8f
— Sal Capaccio 🏈 (@SalSports) January 17, 2017
Rivers is, without a doubt, leaps and bounds better than Taylor, and has proven he can win with the Chargers. Over the last decade as the Chargers’ starter, Rivers has thrown for over 45,000 yards and 314 touchdowns. He has a pretty healthy completion percentage of 64.4 percent on his career.
Rivers has led the Chargers to the playoffs five times in his career, and that type of veteran leadership under center would be huge for the Bills. Having Rivers in the locker room would be a great change for the team, and the team would be willing to build their new offense around him.
Some fans who are sticking behind Taylor were opposed to bringing in Rivers — which Sal addressed on his timeline. That type of attitude is great if we’re really looking to stand behind Taylor, but to pretend as if Taylor is anywhere near the playing level of Rivers would be foolish.
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Taylor is a young, still developing quarterback in the NFL, and Rivers is a veteran, proven quarterback. They are completely different, and Rivers is the type of quarterback that can keep up with Tom Brady twice a year while Taylor doesn’t look as if he can.
Would Rivers fit? Absolutely, he would. With the Bills offense very much up in the air at the moment with the offensive coordinator being a position that has yet to be filled, the team could build around him, especially given that they already need to bolster their receiving core this offseason.
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While the get may be a long shot for the Bills, there’s no doubt that Rivers could immediately make this team better, and that a player such as him could be the difference between making the playoffs and missing them next year.