Philip Rivers rumors: 5 best fits in NFL free agency

1. Indianapolis Colts

In the wake of Andrew Luck’s retirement last August, the Colts pivoted to well-regarded backup Jacoby Brissett and gave him a two-year, $30 million contract extension. He was an early under the radar MVP candidate, as the Colts started 5-2, but a knee injury and trying to play through it derailed things as the Colts lost seven of their last nine games.

No less an authority than general manager Chris Ballard said the jury is still out on Brissett. The contract extension last August only ripped up the final year of his rookie deal and gave him some security for 2020, and if the Colts were to cut or trade Brissett the dead money hit and cap savings are close than you think. But Indianapolis has plenty of cap space (over $86 million) to add competition for Brissett, if not outright replace him and completely move on in some form.

Rivers also has ties to the coaching staff in Indianapolis. Head coach Frank Reich was the Chargers’ quarterbacks coach in 2013 before taking over as offensive coordinator in 2014 and 2015. Colts’ offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni was also on the Chargers’ coaching staff from 2013-2017, as an offensive quality control coach (2013) then quarterbacks coach (2014-2015) and wide receivers coach (2016-2017).

Rivers to the Colts is firmly in play, if the team wants to pursue that avenue. With good talent already in place to put around him and the ability to aggressively add more, maybe Rivers can be the key piece to put Indianapolis back atop the AFC South next season.