KC Chiefs: Five landing spots for Philip Rivers and how it could affect KC

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

For the 12th season in a row, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers missed the playoffs in 2019 after finishing 7-9. In head coach Bruce Arians’ first season in Tampa, his quarterback – Jameis Winston – playing out the final year on his rookie contract, made history, and not the good kind.

Winston threw 33 touchdowns passes and 30 interceptions. Never before has an NFL quarterback had a 30-30 season.

The Bucs have a ton of offseason questions to answer, such as what to do with several key defensive players, but the most important decision regards Winston. Should the Bucs slap him with the franchise tag? Give him a long-term deal?

The Bucs have the No. 14 pick in the NFL Draft, and, conceivably, there could be a young quarterback for the taking there. Should the Bucs let Winston walk and draft someone?

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That really doesn’t seem likely. Arians is 67 and will turn 68 during the middle of the next regular season. Maybe I’m wrong, but that doesn’t seem to be the age at which to start over with a rookie quarterback, especially when guiding a team that hasn’t participated in the playoffs since 2007.

So, if the Bucs let Winston leave, the team could sign Rivers (who just moved to Florida) to a short-term deal. This wouldn’t preclude them from using that No. 14 pick on a quarterback, or some later-round selection on the position. Meanwhile, Arians would hand over the reigns of the franchise to an experienced signal caller who won a playoff game as recently as 2018.

And the Chiefs play the NFC South next season and are scheduled to face the Bucs in Tampa. So this wouldn’t be the end of the Kansas City Chiefs vs Philip Rivers.

Carolina Panthers

Here’s another NFC South team that the Chiefs will play, but this game takes place at Arrowhead. Right now, the Panthers are in the midst of a complete turnover, as it’s the owner’s second year with the team, and he just replaced the franchise’s long-time head coach with Baylor’s Matt Rhule. Next out the door may be Cam Newton, who missed all but two games in 2019 and turns 31 in May.

Like with the Bucs, signing Rivers to a short-term deal wouldn’t preclude Carolina from using one of its first picks on a quarterback. Would the Panthers entertaining trading up to select Tua Tagovailoa? If that’s the case, signing Rivers would make a lot of sense, in that it would give the young, ex-Alabama QB plenty of time to recuperate while learning under Rivers.

Chicago Bears

Couple things here; First, the Chiefs and Bears won’t face each other next season unless the two square off in the Super Bowl. That seems unlikely, regardless of who ends up quarterbacking Chicago. Second, it seems unlikely that the Bears’ brass would pull the plug on the Mitchell Trubisky Experiment so soon.

Sure, he’s – you know – not good, but making the move to walk away from the former No. 2 Draft Pick wouldn’t be good optics for general manager Ryan Pace, who not only drafted Trubisky, but traded up to do so. It wouldn’t look as bad for head coach Matt Nagy, but overall, they’ve got to be banking on Trubisky improving in his fourth season.

Right?

It’s probably a wash between Rivers and Trubisky at this point, so making such a lateral move seems bizarre. Unless, of course, the relationship with Trubisky has soured to the point that moving on from him is the only move the team has left.

I’ve never seen any indication of the Bears coaching staff or front office feeling that way, but you’ve got to wonder if those feelings exist after seeing Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson play like they have the past three years.