Philip Rivers’ Chargers future is getting really complicated

Eli Manning is on the bench with the Giants. Ben Roethlisberger has been out most of the season in Pittsburgh with an elbow injury. And Philip Rivers only looks like he should be joining his fellow 2004 first-round draft picks on the sidelines.

The Chargers will soon be facing the decision the Giants did this past offseason: Is it time to draft their next franchise quarterback? The Giants took the leap with Daniel Jones at No. 6 pick and it took two games before he replaced Manning as the team’s starter. It’s led to the awkwardness of Manning sitting quietly on the Giants sidelines each week.

Rivers looked his worst on Monday night, throwing four interceptions and showing a dangerous lack of arm strength in a season-crushing 24-17 loss to the Chiefs.

Rivers, who turns 38 next month, is in the final year of his contract with the Chargers.

“I think that is my desire,” Rivers told ESPN.com last week about returning next year. “But I do think that it only seems right to say, ‘All right, let’s take a deep breath and regroup.’ I kept saying, a couple years, a couple years or a handful, and then I went to the ‘one year at a time.’ And I think that’s where it is, and that only makes sense when your contract is up and you’re going to be 38 here in a few weeks.

“So I’m just going to have kind of a self and family evaluation of it all, and also know that it’s not solely my decision. But my intention certainly is to be playing in 2020.”

The eye test matches up with the stats for Rivers, who has 15 touchdowns compared to 14 interceptions and has thrown for 3,169 yards. Like the Giants had in the past, the Chargers have largely had average backups behind Rivers with Tyrod Taylor replacing Geno Smith this offseason. So, there is no clear replacement going forward.

“I don’t have that luxury to think about Philip and the future and his contract,” Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn said. “My focus is on preparing for the next game and the Denver Broncos. At the end of the season, that will take care of itself. But right now, we’re just trying to finish the season on a positive note.”

The franchise is in an awkward place right now. They have become the laughingstock of the league for their lack of fan base since moving from San Diego to Los Angeles. They are 4-7 this season as they enter their new stadium, which they are sharing with the Rams, in 2020. If Rivers — coming off a 6-10 or 7-9 season — is still the face of the franchise, it will be a challenging sell.

The problem for them is they might not be bad enough this season to select some of the top quarterback talent — Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa, Jacob Eason, Justin Herbert — in the draft.

For now, the Chargers will try to stay in the fight for one of the AFC wild-card spots.

“It’s a football game,” said Rivers, who threw three interceptions against the Raiders the previous week. “If you could just pick and choose and never throw [interceptions] ever, I’d choose to throw zero. So I certainly don’t want to throw them, but I know it’s hurting us right now. So obviously I need to cut them out.”

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