Philip Rivers Might Return to the NFL

Philip Rivers’ retirement, it seems, may not be as permanent as some had thought.

The veteran quarterback, who just celebrated his 44th birthday, has been invited for a workout with the Indianapolis Colts, and reports suggest he might sign with them soon.

This development follows a tough situation for the Colts; quarterback Daniel Jones suffered a significant Achilles injury, and rookie QB Riley Leonard is nursing a knee issue that has been described as week-to-week after a recent game against the Jaguars.

It’s worth noting that Rivers hasn’t played since the 2020 season and only officially announced his retirement from the NFL in July.

According to NFL Network, this workout will help determine if he can join the Colts’ practice squad. However, there remain questions about whether Rivers is actually ready to return to play, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter highlighted the uncertainty around his desire to step back onto the field.

While the Colts evaluate Rivers’ readiness, they must also consider if he, now a grandfather, is genuinely interested in playing again. It seems he has enough motivation—after all, he did fly out to Indianapolis for this workout.

Rivers’ NFL journey has been impressive; he spent one season with the Colts, leading them to the playoffs, but they ended up losing to the Bills in the wildcard round. Before that, he played for the Chargers for 16 years during his 17-year career.

In that single season with the Colts, he passed for over 4,169 yards and threw 24 touchdowns, but of course, that was already five years ago, so who knows how his skills have held up since then?

Interestingly, Rivers isn’t entirely out of football; he’s been coaching high school football in Alabama at St. Michael Catholic. Plus, there’s a connection to the current Colts head coach Shane Steichen, who worked as the Chargers’ quarterbacks coach when Rivers was still playing there.