USA TODAY Sports
Colts quarterback Philip Rivers knows Sunday’s game against the Jaguars could be the last game of his career. This could open the door to a new career that can be almost as profitable given recent trends.
Michael McCarthy of FrontOfficeSports.com reports that TV networks see Rivers as a potential game analyst in 2021. McCarthy writes that Rivers could become a candidate for the No. 2 spot for analysts at FOX, behind Troy Aikman.
Aikman spoke openly about working for a team at some point in his career. If Aikman were to leave FOX, Rivers could quickly become the FOX equivalent to Tony Romo.
Rivers was linked with ESPN before signing a $ 25 million one-year deal with the Colts in free agency. ESPN tried to upgrade his stance dramatically, without getting Romo off CBS and persuading Peyton Manning to finally accept a job he was apparently destined to do, and it would do very well.
The money is there for Rivers to do very well financially. CBS erased the curve for Romo and paid him $ 18 million a year to keep him out of ESPN’s clutches.
The NFL is currently negotiating new TV deals with the various networks, and some believe an announcement about the next wave of contracts could come at any time. Once the destination of each TV package is known, Rivers can then figure out which one – if any – best fits a life that includes the father of nine children.
Either way, fans will benefit from his involvement in calling games. It’s easy to compare him to guys like Romo or to legends like Don Meredith, given the southern accent. But if we look at the combination of knowledge, experience, passion, genuine interest in the game, work ethic and a strange, bubbling charm that can make words like “dadgum” and “shoot” much more popular than their peers, four letters, Rivers may be one of the best to ever do that – especially if Manning never does.
Heck (see?), Rivers could finally be the man everyone has been waiting for for more than a decade: the next John Madden.