Philip Rivers says he waited to retire because he was still receiving interest from NFL teams in recent years

Earlier this month, longtime Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers officially retired from the NFL. Yes, the same Philip Rivers that hasn’t played a game since the 2020 season. His announcement came as a bit of a surprise to some people, but he revealed during a recent interview on the “Dan Patrick Show” why he waited so long to make it official. 

According to Rivers, he was still receiving interest from teams in the years following his one season with the Indianapolis Colts in 2020.

“The reason there was a little bit of a wait is there were a couple of November/Decembers there in 2021 and 2022 where I was staying ready,” Rivers said. “I threw on shoulder pads a few times and a helmet and was throwing in the yard and working just in case. And there were a few things that kind of got close. But then the last two years I pretty much knew I was done.”

Back in 2021, the New Orleans Saints considered outside quarterback help after injuries and COVID-19 ravaged their depth chart. They called both Drew Brees and Rivers.

“When the Saints had the injuries, I think they called Drew and I both,” Rivers said. “I remember being on a phone call with Drew, and it was over Christmas and it was like the first Christmas I had been off and not playing, and I was like, ‘I can’t believe I’m even considering this.’ Drew and I ended up talking about, ‘Hey, were you serious?’ And he was asking me if I was serious…”

Two years later, the San Francisco 49ers lost Trey Lance to a season-ending injury in Week 2, then Jimmy Garoppolo broke his foot in Week 13. The 49ers thought about adding someone like Rivers, but thankfully Brock Purdy worked out. 

“It was the year that the 49ers had the injuries at quarterback,” Rivers said. “Early on, before Purdy really got going. There was still probably six weeks left in the year so there was a little interaction I had there with John Lynch.”

The 49ers made it to the NFC Championship game that season with Purdy and Josh Johnson, but both quarterbacks were injured in the final game of the year. If San Francisco somehow defeated the Philadelphia Eagles and made it to Super Bowl LVII, Rivers could have been the 49ers quarterback.

Rivers said that talks with the Saints and 49ers never got too far, and part of that was because spot duty wasn’t attractive to him. He didn’t know if he wanted to be the guy that makes or breaks a team’s season when he hadn’t been a part of the group for very long. 

Rivers, who was selected with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft, spent 16 of his 17 NFL seasons with the Chargers. The eight-time Pro Bowler went 134-106 as a starter, and finishes his career ranked sixth all-time in career passing yards (63,440) and touchdown passes (421).