Just like we all expected to be the case when we entered Week 15, 44-year-old Philip Rivers is putting down his headset on the high school sidelines to un-retire and play for the Indianapolis Colts. Yes, I'm serious. Yes, that's wild. But it is, in fact, happening, which is only made crazier by the fact that Rivers, who joins Brett Favre and a short list of others by un-retiring, last played in the 2020-21 season, but now steps in for the injured Daniel Jones.
That, naturally, got our brains turning — which other recently retired players (much more recently so than Rivers, that's for sure) could get off the coach and help their former teams? This probably doesn't have a single percentage of a chance of happening, but it's at least plausible as several teams aim to fill holes or just get even better.
Aaron Donald, Los Angeles Rams
Let's be clear — the Rams don't actually need Aaron Donald to come back. Landing Poona Ford, who has joined a young, fearsome group with Kobie Turner, Tyler Davis and Braden Fisk, has made this one of the best interior defensive lines in the NFL this season. That's also before we talk about Jared Verse and the rest of a lethal edge group.
Oh, and let's not forget that the Rams might be the surest bet to be a Super Bowl threat right now in the league, not just the NFC.
Having said that, just imagine if that group did have Donald. Still just 34 years old, while Donald wasn't necessarily putting up his MVP candidate-like numbers of years past, he still did crush with eight sacks and 16 tackles for loss. The adage goes that you can never have too much depth, so suffice it to say that they wouldn't turn down a surefire future Hall-of-Famer as part of their defensive line depth.
Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons
Not much has gone the Falcons' way this season. Trading up and drafting two edge rushers in the first round hasn't been exactly a home run. Michael Penix Jr. was middling before he suffered a debilitating injury. And needless to say after the horrors in Atlanta that were witnessed last year, Kirk Cousins then filling in for Penix hasn't been all too pretty.
To that point, though, Cousins doesn't look dissimilar to the last we saw of Matt Ryan in the NFL, if not actually a little better. Once Ryan's time with the Indianapolis Colts became a flat-out bust almost immediately, that all but closed the book on the former MVP's career.
With that being said, though, why wouldn't Arthur Blank and the Falcons want to put some butts in the seats and create some feel-good moments with Ryan's return in a season that hasn't had much to feel good about? I'm not saying I all the way support publicity stunts, but if it's a publicity stunt when your current quarterback stinks on a bad team, then I'm certainly a bit more open to it.
Jason Kelce, Philadelphia Eagles
Blame Jalen Hurts, Nick Sirianni, A.J. Brown, or whoever for the defending champion Eagles not being remotely the same caliber team as they once were. But you would be wrong in doing so, at least chiefly. Philly's offensive line that has been a strength for so long simply isn't as such anymore. Cam Jurgens at center has been arguably the worst culprit, ranking in the bottom-third of qualified centers in PFF grade.
But once you stop getting technical about stuff, you realize that we could just call up New Heights, see what Jason Kelce's up to, and get the perennial All-Pro back in front of Jalen Hurts.
Obviously, Kelce seemed quite resolute in his decision to retire, and is doing exceptionally well for himself in his post-playing career. He probably could not possibly have less interest in returning to do the Brotherly Shove. But what I am saying is that if there were a chance and the Eagles were to make a call, they would almost definitely be hoping that Kelce would say yes.