Chargers announce 4-year extension for Philip Rivers
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Philip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers have agreed to a four-year contract extension.
The question is, will the quarterback finish his career in San Diego or Los Angeles?
The Chargers announced the extension Saturday night. The deal reportedly is worth $84 million, with $65 million guaranteed.
Rivers,
33 and the team's starter since 2006, is entering the final year of a
$93 million, six-year extension he signed in August 2009.
The
extension comes as team chairman Dean Spanos has angered many Chargers
fans by exploring a move to the Los Angeles area. The Chargers walked
away from negotiations for a new stadium in San Diego in mid-June. Mayor
Kevin Faulconer has said that if the sides haven't agreed to a term
sheet by Sept. 11, there won't be a special election in January.
The Chargers have partnered with their archrivals, the Oakland Raiders,
on plans for a $1.7 billion stadium in Carson if they can't get new
stadiums in their home markets. On Tuesday, Carmen Policy, who is
spearheading Carson stadium efforts, told NFL owners that ''the Chargers
and Raiders are committed to Los Angeles.'' The Carson project is
competing with a stadium project in Inglewood backed by St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke.
Earlier
this year, Rivers didn't seem keen on moving to L.A. if the team moved.
He has said he'd be OK playing out his current deal, but also said he'd
be open to an extension, as long as talks didn't drag out into the
season.
Rivers played through
back and chest injuries in 2014. He was sacked seven times in a
season-ending loss at Kansas City that cost the Chargers a playoff
berth.
He was obtained in a draft-day deal with the New York Giants in 2004 for Eli Manning, whose family had said he didn't want to play for San Diego. Rivers became the starter in 2006 after Drew Brees was allowed to leave as a free agent.
Rivers
has started 144 straight regular-season games, the second-longest
active streak behind Manning's 168, and thrown for 36,655 yards. His 252
career touchdown passes are two short of the team record set by Hall of
Famer Dan Fouts.
The QB led the Chargers to four straight AFC West titles from 2006-09 and to a wild-card berth in 2013.
The one thing lacking in his career has been a Super Bowl title. Manning and Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger,
the other big-name quarterback taken in the 2004 draft, each have won
two Super Bowls. Brees led New Orleans to a Super Bowl title after the
2009 season.
The deepest the
Chargers have gone in the playoffs behind Rivers is the AFC championship
game following the 2007 season. Rivers gamely played after tearing a
ligament in his right knee in the divisional round, but the Chargers
lost 21-12 at New England.
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Follow Bernie Wilson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/berniewilson
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