The Chargers say Philip Rivers' "retirement contract" didn't actually matter when he signed with the Colts, as relayed by Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.
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Back in July, Los Angeles brought Rivers back for a one-day retirement celebration. Fans wondered this week whether that ceremonial gesture complicated his move to Indianapolis.
Turns out it had zero impact.
The Chargers confirmed the paperwork wasn't an official NFL contract. They were already at the 90-player limit, so the team simply held a ceremony without filing anything that would have locked Rivers onto the reserve/retired list.
If that had been a real contract, things would have gotten messy. Rivers would have needed to be activated and released before the trade deadline, or else he would have been forced to pass through waivers.
Any team could have claimed him. And the Chargers would have had the power to slow the entire process or keep him from signing elsewhere until they cleared him.
There's no indication Los Angeles would have blocked him, but the Chargers are fighting for the same AFC wild-card real estate as Indianapolis. Helping the Colts solve an emergency at quarterback wouldn't exactly be ideal.
Because the one-day contract wasn't official, the path stayed clean. Rivers was free to work out for the Colts, sign to the practice squad, and potentially step into a playoff race at age 44.
