The Vikings QBs Who Could Pull a Philip Rivers and Unretire
Wipe that smile off your face; he wasn’t kidding. The 44-year-old Philip Rivers unretired this week, signing with the Indianapolis Colts after Daniel Jones tore his Achilles tendon. Rivers, in theory, could play this weekend at the Seattle Seahawks.
So, what if the Minnesota Vikings did this?
A look at the Vikings quarterbacks who, in theory, could pull a Philip Rivers and unretire, following the surprise 44-year-old comeback headline.
While none of the following players will actually depart retirement for Minnesota, here’s a look at options in the Rivers vein who could do so.
Comeback Candidates if Vikings Tried a Philip Rivers Move
The list is strictly hypothetical, and the retired passers are listed alphabetically.
1. Sam Bradford
Age: 38
Bradford is just a little bit older than former Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins, who is struggling mightily at the moment down in Atlanta.
And he’s still six years younger than Rivers, making the comeback theoretically possible. Of course, by the time Bradford left Minnesota in 2018, his knee was basically shot, though he signed with the Arizona Cardinals that season and quickly flopped.
Bradford enjoyed a profitable career in the NFL despite injuries and even helped the Vikings start 5-0 in 2016 before everything went to hell.
The former Viking often plays in amateur golf tournaments these days.
2. Matt Cassel
Age: 43
Cassell steadied the ship in Minnesota after the failed Christian Ponder era, a stopgap between Ponder and the next Round 1 passer, Teddy Bridgewater.
Minnesota found him one year before Mike Zimmer took over and kept him aboard through the end of 2014. He later played for the Buffalo Bills, Dallas Cowboys, Tennessee Titans, and Detroit Lions. In 2014, just a couple of games into the regular season, Cassel broke his foot, paving the way for the Bridgewater era to begin.
Bridgewater would tear his ACL about two years later and exit stage left from the Vikings.
Cassel has a Pro Bowl to his name in 2010 as the Kansas City Chiefs’ starting quarterback. He hosts a podcast called Lots to Say with Bobby Bones and Matt Cassel.
3. Christian Ponder
Age: 38
Six years younger than Rivers, Ponder currently operates an outfit called ‘The Post,’ which is a “clubhouse for former professional athletes, helping them transition to business and build new careers through networking and education.”
But once upon a time, Ponder was the one big hope for Vikings football — not unlike J.J. McCarthy right now. In fact, McCarthy, before last weekend, had played so poorly through six starts that fans were quick to compare him to Ponder — universally known as an insult in the Twin Cities.
In Minnesota, Ponder showed some flashes of the right stuff to play quarterback, but never found consistency. He left the organization after the 2013 campaign, finding employment with the Oakland Raiders, Denver Broncos, and San Francisco 49ers.
Ponder never threw another regular season pass after departing the purple team.
4. Joe Webb
Age: 39
Minnesota chose Joe Webb in Round 6 of the 2010 NFL Draft, and fans didn’t know whether to call him a wide receiver or quarterback. Then-skipper Brad Childress later announced that Webb was a quarterback.
He took on the backup QB role in Minnesota, notably winning a high-profile game against the Philadelphia Eagles as a rookie in 2010. Webb also quarterbacked Minnesota’s 2012 playoff loss against the Green Bay Packers after the aforementioned Ponder succumbed to a late-week injury.
Webb found staying power in the NFL, sticking around for a decade. Here’s his full NFL resume:
- Minnesota Vikings (2010–2013)
- Carolina Panthers (2014–2016)
- Buffalo Bills (2017)
- Houston Texans (2018–2019)
- Detroit Lions (2020)
- New York Giants (2020)
The mobile quarterback + WR hybrid is remembered fondly by fans. He never started a game after leaving Minnesota.
Precedent?
CBS Sports‘ Tyler Sullivan noted Tuesday on the precedent of old quarterbacks making comebacks: “Seeing a quarterback Rivers’ age start in a game is rare but not unprecedented. If he were to start for Indianapolis at some point this season, he would be just the fifth starting QB in NFL history age 44 or older, joining Tom Brady, Vinny Testaverde, Warren Moon and Steve DeBerg.”
“However, when you pair his extended absence, we haven’t seen anything quite of this magnitude. For instance, Sunday will mark 1,800 days since Rivers’ last NFL start (Jan. 9, 2021, versus the Bills). If he were to start this weekend against Seattle (which is still a major question), Rivers would be the first 40-plus-year-old quarterback to play with at least 1,800 days in between starts. The current record is 1,777 days held by DeBerg in 1998, who started one game that season at age 44 after being retired for four years.”
For now, oddsmakers expect Rivers’ Colts to lose by two touchdowns at Seattle on Sunday.
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