ESPN wants Philip Rivers as analyst, 'MNF' commentator?

Longtime NFL quarterback Philip Rivers recently retired as an active player following 17 seasons that involved lots of trash talk between Rivers and opposing players. 

The 39-year-old could soon be using his gift for gab in a new career. 

Andrew Marchand of the New York Post is reporting that ESPN plans to talk with Rivers about joining the network to work as an NFL analyst and, potentially, an in-game commentator. Marchand wrote that the trio of Steve Levy, Louis Riddick, and Brian Griese is slated to remain the first-choice "Monday Night Football" crew for next season, but it's possible that ESPN/ABC could add prime-time contests via an upcoming television rights agreement. 

Week 1 of every NFL campaign ends with a "Monday Night Football" doubleheader, and the league featured multiple games on weeknights a handful of times last fall because of coronavirus-related reschedulings. Unsurprisingly, those evenings produced TV hits among football fans who tuned in. 

The current ESPN television and radio catalogs contain a plethora of original programs that could use a knowledgeable former signal-caller such as Rivers throughout the fall months, as well as for the period that precedes any NFL Draft. Of course, the network likely would happily select Peyton Manning to enter the booth over Rivers, but Marchand reported that Manning appears disinterested in accepting the responsibilities that would come with that job.