LaDainian Tomlinson Comments on Philip Rivers' Status with Chargers

LaDainian Tomlinson cast further doubt on Philip Rivers' future with the San Diego Chargers, saying Monday that he doesn't believe Rivers will remain with the organization.

Speaking on NFL Network, the Chargers' all-time leading rusher speculated that the 33-year-old quarterback might be looking to move this offseason:  

NFL.com's Gregg Rosenthal passed along additional comments from Tomlinson:

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You never want to trade your franchise quarterback. You know that's never the case. However, in this situation, they might have no choice but to do so. Because I don't know if Philip (Rivers) wants to be there anymore. I think he has lost confidence in the organization. He's seen a lot of changes going on and the L.A. thing is valid. Him not wanting to go to L.A. is very valid.

The parts around him keep on moving. The receiver corps keeps on changing. Eddie Royal is now gone," Tomlinson noted. "We talked about this before with Vincent Jackson leaving years ago. There are so many parts that are leaving. When Philip is looking around in that locker room and he doesn't see anyone that he's familiar with other than Antonio Gates.

Now to that point, Antonio Gates next year is a free agent, Eric Weddle is gonna be up. Next year the Chargers have a lot of decisions to make with a lot of key guys. So Philip could be looking at the situation and thinking 'we're not close to winning a championship anytime soon.'

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Rumors regarding a potential trade involving Rivers began in part after Bleacher Report's Jason Cole reported that Tennessee Titans head coach Ken Whisenhunt would love to add the veteran signal-caller rather than draft a QB out of college:

Rivers has only one year remaining on his contract, so the timing would be right in that regard for the Chargers to deal him.    

Despite all of the talk swirling around Rivers' status, Chargers players remain positive that their quarterback won't be going anywhere, per Michael Gehlken of U-T San Diego.

"That's our quarterback," said left tackle King Dunlap. "That's our quarterback."

If San Diego is going to move Rivers, then it would almost certainly be on or before draft day. Dealing Rivers to the Titans or another team ahead of or during the first round of the draft would allow the franchise to acquire a rookie around whom it could build for the future.

Given the dearth of quality quarterbacks available on the open market, it seems highly unlikely that the Chargers would be able to find anything of value at the position outside of the draft.