When Jameis Winston tore his ACL earlier this year, Philip Rivers said he’d listen to the Saints if they gave him a call about coming out of retirement.
The Saints didn’t give him a call at that point, but they reportedly picked up the phone this week. Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football reports that the Saints called Rivers after putting Taysom Hill and Trevor Siemian on the COVID-19 reserve list ahead of their Monday night game against the Dolphins.
Rivers passed on the chance to come back to the NFL in favor of spending Christmas at home with his family. Saturday also brought a report that the Saints gave Drew Brees a buzz about coming back, although it was to serve as a backup to rookie Ian Book and the interest in Rivers would have presumably for him to fill the same role.
The Saints wound up signing Blake Bortles and, barring any change in status for the other quarterbacks, he’ll be in the No. 2 role on Monday.