Rumor: Philip Rivers to Tampa Bay a possibility

Philip Rivers is a free agent this season and reportedly is making a permanent move back to northern Florida to be closer to his family, according to Adam Schefter and Chris Mortenson. Rivers said, “What this means football-wise is to be determined, but it was time for us to move back closer to home.” He also said that he wants to continue playing, even if that means he moves on to another team.

His move to Florida jibes with the recent rumor from Jason La Canfora that the Buccaneers could be a landing spot for the eight-time Pro Bowler. The question for Tampa Bay and Bruce Arians is, do they want to keep Jameis Winston, who led the league in passing yards, but also threw 30 interceptions becoming the first quarterback to throw 30+ touchdowns and 30 interceptions in a season.

After the season, coach Arians was asked, can the Buccaneers win with a different quarterback other than Winston? And he responded, “Oh yeah. If we can win with this one, we can definitely win with another one, too.” He also remarked, “there’s so much good and so much outright terrible” when talking about Winston.

Philip Rivers also was a turnover machine this season, tossing 20, so the question is, would Rivers be an upgrade over Winston? Arians did get a lot out of another older quarterback with Carson Palmer in Arizona, so there is a precedent there.

Rivers is 38 years old now, while Palmer was 36 when he had his best season with Arians. It would likely be a good fit, but everything depends on if Arians believes he can turn Winston’s turnover numbers around.