NFL Trade Rumors: Philip Rivers Trying To Force A Trade To San Francisco 49ers, New Report Claims

The NFL trade rumors surrounding Philip Rivers are heating up again, with a new report claiming the Chargers quarterback isn’t happy with the team’s direction and is trying to force a trade to the San Francisco 49ers.

The rumors regarding Rivers started as soon as the team announced its move from San Diego to Los Angeles. There had been rumblings that Rivers wasn’t keen on moving his family to Los Angeles, and that he would look to spend his final few seasons in a new setting with one last chance to win a title.

Sources close to the team refuted those reports, but there are new NFL trade rumors that Philip Rivers is indeed trying to leave Los Angeles.

Huffington Post sports reporter Jordan Shultz said that he’s hearing Rivers wants to head to the 49ers.

Hearing Phillip Rivers forcing a trade to #49ers is real. Disappointed in the LA move and wants to have say in GM/coach hiring process.

— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) January 17, 2017

But at the same time, other rumors suggest that Philip Rivers isn’t seeking a trade and would be fine with the relocation to Los Angeles. As Pro Football Talk‘s Mike Florio noted, Rivers knew that this move was likely when he signed his last contract.

“Two years ago, there were reports suggesting that Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers didn’t want to move his ever-growing family to Los Angeles. Then, after weeks of rumors regarding a potential trade to Tennessee, which would have put him not far from his Alabama hometown, Rivers signed a four-year, $83.25 million contract, extending his commitment to the team through 2019.

“The contract was signed at a time when he knew a move to L.A. was very possible, if not likely. Which is more than enough proof to show he’s all in with the relocation.”

If Philip Rivers is indeed trying to force a trade out of Los Angeles, there could be some other teams keenly interested including one on the opposite side of the continent. The Buffalo Bills are entering the 2017 offseason with a big question mark at quarterback, with the team sending mixed signals about the future of last season’s starter, Tyrod Taylor.

The Bills benched Taylor in the final week, avoiding the potential of an injury that would have triggered nearly $30 million in guaranteed money. While Taylor was seen as the preferred pick of interim coach Anthony Lynn, the Bills ended up going a different direction in their coaching search and picking Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Sean McDermott.

In a bit of coincidence, Lynn was hired by the Los Angeles Chargers as their next head coach.

The Bills would likely be very interested in a trade for Philip Rivers, but that’s seen as a remote possibility at best. As the Buffalo News pointed out, Rivers would have to agree to move across the country to Buffalo for his twilight years.

“Pulling off a trade for Rivers would not be easy. For starters, he controls his own destiny in the form of a no-trade clause. The only person who knows with any certainty whether he would agree to waive that is Rivers. There are plenty of quarterback-needy teams in the NFL, and if Rivers were made available via trade, he’d basically get to pick his desired location. It’s hard to see the Bills topping that list.”

So if the NFL rumors are true and Philip Rivers is seeking a trade, it’s likely that he’ll stay much closer to home, and the Bills may have to figure out their quarterback quandary in some other way.

[Featured Image by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images]