SI.com's Albert Breer discusses why Philip Rivers fits with the Colts.
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00:00 We now know that Philip Rivers will play the 2020 season as an Indianapolis Colt.
00:05 How did we get to this spot?
00:07 Let's welcome in Albert Breer of the MMQB and Byrd.
00:10 Of course, Rivers had spent his entire career with the Chargers in both San Diego and L.A.
00:16 He now shifts to Indianapolis on a one year contract.
00:20 Who was the aggressor in making this happen?
00:22 Was it Rivers or was it the Colts?
00:25 It makes sense for everybody, Ryan.
00:26 I mean, that's the bottom line.
00:28 You know, this is a relationship business in a lot of ways.
00:31 And Philip Rivers had stronger relationships in Indianapolis than he had anywhere else
00:35 in the league outside of the Chargers organization.
00:39 And really it's two guys.
00:40 It's the head coach, Frank Reich.
00:41 It's the offensive coordinator, Nick Sirianni.
00:43 And I can take you this back to 2013.
00:45 Mike McCoy arrived in San Diego at the time and wanted to put the sort of think tank that
00:51 he had around Peyton Manning around Philip Rivers in San Diego.
00:56 And so they worked to get coaches kind of involved in that.
00:59 And it was Ken Wiesenhunt.
01:00 It was Sirianni.
01:01 It was Reich.
01:02 And it was McCoy himself.
01:03 And all four of those guys worked very closely with Peyton Manning.
01:06 Reich and Sirianni were able to develop a very close relationship with Rivers.
01:11 Rivers trusts those guys.
01:13 And the Colts trust Frank Reich and Nick Sirianni's opinion on things.
01:17 They really feel like he's got something left in the tank.
01:20 And to me, like this is as much about the program they're building as anything else.
01:23 You know, obviously kind of a shocking development in the summer when Andrew Luck just up and
01:28 retired.
01:29 They've spent three years building it under Chris Ballard, two years with Frank Reich
01:33 now.
01:34 And really, I think this is about trying to continue forward on the path they've been
01:37 going uninterrupted as best they could.
01:40 And so having a guy come in who's got a background like Philip Rivers does really helps.
01:44 And it'll buy them time to find their ultimate quarterback of the future.
01:48 >>Burt, Philip Rivers is 38 years old.
01:51 From X's and O's standpoint, from what you've seen last year and the year before, how much
01:57 does Rivers have left in that tank you referred to?
02:01 >>You know, I think he's sort of at the state, and I've used this kind of this analogy with
02:05 Tom Brady, too.
02:06 I think he's sort of at the stage of his career where like John Elway was in 1996, 1997, and
02:13 1998 in Denver, where Elway wasn't what he had been earlier in his career.
02:17 But if he put a good team around him, he could operate at a high level.
02:21 And remember, Elway had in Denver, Rod Smith, Ed McCaffrey, Shannon Sharp, Terrell Davis
02:27 and the best offensive line in the game.
02:29 One of the issues that Rivers had in Los Angeles the last couple of years, the offensive line
02:34 had kind of crumbled around and Russell Okung had had injury issues.
02:38 The guys in the interior had trouble staying healthy.
02:41 And it really sort of accelerated the aging process for Rivers.
02:44 Well, now he goes to Indianapolis.
02:46 Was he out there?
02:47 He's got the best offensive lines in football playing behind Ryan Kelly and Quentin Nelson
02:52 and Anthony Costanzo.
02:53 He's got a good group of tight ends led by Jack Doyle.
02:56 They've got some money to spend at receiver and T.Y.
02:58 Hilton's there.
02:59 And so the cast in Indianapolis is in a lot better position to support a aging quarterback
03:05 than the one in Los Angeles was.
03:07 And the interesting thing about it, Ryan, is if you actually look at it logistically,
03:11 now the Chargers are looking to fix the offensive line to try and entice Tom Brady to come there.
03:17 So it kind of comes full circle with what both the Colts and the Chargers are trying
03:20 to do.
03:21 It sure does.
03:22 Strange times, Bert.
03:24 We've got Tom Brady out of New England and Philip Rivers heading to Indianapolis.
03:29 Just another day in NFL free agency.
03:31 Albert Behr of the MMQB, thanks as usual, Bert.
03:34 All right, thanks, Ryan.
03:39 (upbeat music)