Philip Rivers moved his whole family to Florida. What does that mean for his career?

Rivers is a free agent. Did his move tip his hand for his 2020 plans?

Philip Rivers has moved his family to Florida. This is a big deal because Philip Rivers isn’t exactly a fan of changing zip codes.

The Pro Bowl quarterback famously balked at the idea of moving along with his Chargers from San Diego to Los Angeles. Rather than uproot his baseball roster-sized family, he chose to buy a $200,000 mobile theater and hire a driver for the hour-plus commute up I-5.

Now his base is the Southeast, three time zones away from southern California. That move came just in time for Rivers to hit free agency for the first time in his career, at the spritely age of 38. FOX correspondent Jay Glazer reports that the Chargers are ready to move on from the quarterback who led them into “good,” but never “great” territory in his 16 seasons with the team (14 of them as the starter).

That leaves one massive question for the veteran quarterback: what’s next? If Los Angeles is truly in his rear view and his move south was part of a career shift from the West Coast, there’s one place that would be an obvious fit.

Rivers would solve at immediate problem for the Buccaneers — at least temporarily

There’s only one Florida team who’d ostensibly be in the mix for Rivers. It won’t be the Dolphins, who have Ryan Fitzpatrick locked in for 2020 in the second season of his two-year, $11 million deal. He’ll likely play mentor to whichever quarterback Miami selects with one of its three first-round picks this spring.

It also wouldn’t be the Jaguars who, like it or not, probably can’t walk away from the three years and $57 million remaining on Nick Foles’ so-far disastrous contract. Cutting him this offseason would leave more than $33 million in dead money hanging around the team’s salary cap sheet like an albatross.

The Buccaneers, on the other hand, may be in the QB market depending on whether or not they re-sign Jameis Winston, whose contract expired after 2019’s 7-9 campaign. If they decide to move on from the player they selected first overall in 2015, the Bucs could be looking for a veteran passer to bridge the gap between the playoff-free Winston era and whatever comes next.

That could lead the Bucs to Rivers. And it’s kind of a great fit.

Bruce Arians may be searching for his next fixer-upper QB

Winston’s pending free agency means the only quarterback under contract with the Bucs next season is veteran backup Ryan Griffin. The Buccaneers don’t have a draft pick until the 14th pick, which is likely too late to select a passer who could make a meaningful impact in 2020 (SB Nation draft expert Dan Kadar has them drafting Iowa edge rusher A.J. Espenesa with that pick). Head coach Bruce Arians will almost certainly turn to a veteran presence to guide his team.

Arians’ reputation as an NFL coach is as an amplifier of quarterback talent. He brought Carson Palmer back to prominence after a stop in Oakland had eroded away much of his value. In five years with the Cardinals, Palmer recorded a 38-21-1 record and led Arizona to its second-ever conference championship game, which came during the 2015 season. That was the same year he led the NFL in both adjusted yards per pass (9.1) and QBR (77.1) and snapped a nine-year Pro Bowl drought by being selected to the NFC team.

This wasn’t the only time he helped an entrenched quarterback. As the Steelers’ offensive coordinator from 2007 to 2011, Arians oversaw the most efficient stretch of Ben Roethlisberger’s early career. His work as OC and interim coach of the 2012 Colts helped push Andrew Luck to a Pro Bowl performance in his rookie year.

Hell, he made Jameis Winston his truest self, unlocking the potential of a man who can throw for more yards than anyone else in the NFL (5,109), but also record the league’s first 30-touchdown, 30-interception season. No matter who you are as a passer, Arians turns your volume up to 11.

Rivers could use a boost as he ranges into the twilight of a strong (but rarely epic) career. He had one of his finest seasons in 2018, then failed to keep that momentum moving forward in 2019 despite healthy campaigns from both Keenan Allen and Hunter Henry in the Chargers’ lineup. His interception rate spiked over three percent for the third time in the last six years. His adjusted yards per pass fell from 8.7 (sixth-best in the NFL in 2018) to 7.1 (15th).

Arians coaxed a career-low interception rate out of Palmer in Arizona — though the less said about his 2019 with Winston, the better. Despite playing out his late-30s in the desert, Palmer’s career stats as a Cardinal are significantly more efficient that his runs in Cincinnati or Oakland. That alone could be Arians’ pitch to Rivers.

Why would Rivers want to play for Tampa?

Besides the proximity to his new home? The Buccaneers could offer him a trusted passing guru at head coach and quite possibly the league’s most talented receiving corps.

Mike Evans will turn 27 in August and is coming off his sixth straight 1,000-yard season, even though he missed three games this fall due to injury. He’s flanked by Chris Godwin, who thrived alongside Evans and en route to career-best numbers (86 catches, 1,333 yards, nine touchdowns). Together, they averaged 16.3 yards per reception. That’s the kind of deep-ball playmaking Rivers, who ranked 10th in the league in average throw depth in 2019, could ride to massive gains downfield.

The Buccaneers’ offensive line wasn’t great in 2019, but ESPN’s pass block win rate metric ranked it slightly better than the Chargers’. That unit may have to replace free agent right tackle Demar Dotson, but will otherwise remain intact. That top-15 draft slot and an estimated $91 million in cap space (minus whatever Rivers theoretically signs for) would give Tampa Bay plenty of options for upgrades. Los Angeles, for comparison’s sake, has $51 million in space and the sixth pick in the upcoming draft.

Philip Rivers isn’t necessarily done with the Chargers just because he moved to Florida, even if reports suggest the Chargers are done with him. If he decides he wants to return to the field in 2020 and keep his commute short, Tampa would be a natural fit.

Or, he could just be doing what most new Florida residents have in mind: planning out his retirement.