Despite ever rampant rumors that the San Diego Chargers may soon become the Los Angeles Chargers, it appears as though even if the move does happen, the franchise’s quarterback will stay the same for the next several years.
The five-time pro bowler has reportedly agreed to a four-year contract extension with the team that will keep him in a Chargers uniform through 2019, according to the team’s Twitter feed.
NFL.com reporter Ian Rapoport is reporting that the deal is worth $84 million in new money with $65 million of that being guaranteed (that’s over $9 million per-child). The $65 million amount gives Rivers the richest contract in the NFL in terms of guaranteed money, beating out Colin Kaepernick’s previous record of $61 million.
That’s a lot of cash for Rivers, who is 33, and has already been in the league for 11 years. It’s nice to see that the Chargers are loyal to the QB that has brought them relatively consistent success over the last decade, but there’s no real conceivable way you can justify Rivers being the highest paid guaranteed player in the NFL.
He’s getting $11 million more guaranteed than Aaron Rogers, $33 million more than Russell Wilson, and over $42 million more than Andrew Luck.
Not every contract is created equal, and some QBs will get their money when their current deal runs out (Luck is a free agent in 2017), but $84 million for Philip Rivers, is just too much money, there’s no way of getting around it.
At the very least it makes more sense why he was so excited to see Jerry Jones, now.
