The San Diego Chargers are singing the praises of current quarterback Philip Rivers, who has spent all 11 seasons of his NFL career in the same spot. However there are rumblings that the Bolts could look to get younger in this draft, and take their QB of the future-Oregon prospect Marcus Mariota.
That's not a tune Chargers general manager Tom Telesco was singing just before the calendar turned to 2015. "We are committed to making sure Philip retires as a Charger, and we will address that at the appropriate time," Telesco said.
Tuesday, he was saying the same things. "I don't like Philip as our QB, I love him," Telesco said. "And I'll go to war with him."
Rivers was excellent last season. He started 16 games for the ninth consecutive season, and threw for 4,286 yards and 31 touchdowns. It was the fourth time Rivers finished a year with more than 4,000 yards and 30 touchdowns.
For his part Rivers is claiming to ignore the speculation that he might be cast aside as a 34-year-old passer with lots of mileage on him.
"Rumors," Rivers said. "You can find rumors on anything on the Internet. I think I could even find rumors on the Internet that I get too worked up in games.
"I'm trying to not get too caught up in what I can't control. What I can control is, what I'm doing in March is what I've done every March - working out, looking for little tweaks, getting ready to fight like crazy to help us win."
If they do decide to go after Mariota, they might find a willing trade partner in the New York Jets. They were considered one of the favorites to land Mariota with the No. 6 pick in this year's draft, but their signing of Ryan Fitzpatrick this offseason may indicate their focus in the draft is not on the quarterback position.
Last season Mariota accounted for 59 total touchdowns; he caught one, ran for 15 scores, and threw 42 touchdowns against four interceptions.
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