Are the Raiders really interested in Philip Rivers?

This isn’t fun, is it?

Now, you have to sweat out Philip Rivers’ speculation? When will the madness stop for the Raiders Nation?

I know Raiders’ fans despise Rivers as much as Tom Brady if not more. The idea of either signal caller wearing the Silver and Black must be nauseating to many.

Long rivalries aside, I just don’t think either player makes football sense for the Raiders.

It was my plan to chime in on the Brady-Raiders situation as one of my early posts in this community. Even though the story is a bit old, it is still percolating and I felt it was important to express my voice on this subject in this community early on.

In short, I don’t like the idea.

Now, however, I can basically make the same points about why I believe the Brady-Las Vegas pairing wouldn’t work in the form of Rivers.

It’s the same thesis.

Why are we even discussing Rivers and Win City? Well, the NFL Network reported last week that Raiders may be a landing spot for the 38-year-old quarterback, who is leaving the Chargers in free agency after being their starter for past 14 seasons.

The network said the favorite to land Rivers is the Indianapolis Colts, but cited that the Raiders are also a possibility to land Rivers.

Veteran quarterbacks being connected to the Raiders is nothing new. The Brady talk has been hot for more than a month.

The Raiders, themselves, aren’t doing anything to quell the speculation about a new quarterback. This week, Las Vegas general manager Mike Mayock praised quarterback Derek Carr, but said they would upgrade anywhere if the possibility arose.

The connections of the likes of Brady and Rivers to the Raiders by major news outlets (ESPN reported the Brady interest) isn’t just being made up of the clear blue. The Raiders are, at least, considering if Brady and Rivers (and maybe others) are upgrades over Carr.

There is, at least, one person in the league who questions that.

That’s where I’m also coming from.

Can we really say Brady, who will turn 43 in August, and Rivers are better than Carr at this point? Both Brady and Rivers took downward turns in 2019. The odds are the decline will continue for both in 2020.

A Super Bowl-winning coach once told me that when great players fall off the cliff, the decline is swift and severe. We’ve seen it with the likes of Brett Favre and Peyton Manning in recent memory. When those great players were done, they were done.

Why would the Raiders spend big money on Brady or Rivers just to be the team they retire from?

My thoughts on Carr is this: I don’t think he’s the primary problem for the Raiders, but I don’t think he is the solution, either.

He is an average NFL quarterback. Carr, who will soon turn 29, is probably who he is as an NFL quarterback. He probably isn’t going to get dramatically better. But he is solid and it’s hard to improve from a solid quarterback.

If the Raiders want to move on, I’d respect it. But I’d rather see them go with a 22-year-old replacement for Carr rather than Brady or Rivers.

I just don’t see the point.

But these continued reports suggest it is something the Raiders are considering. Thus, we will continue to monitor the situation.

Let me know what you think in the comments section below.