In the past few days, the Indianapolis Colts have hit bottom, losing their starting quarterback Daniel Jones to an Achilles injury, their backup Anthony Richardson already being on the IR, and now their third-string rookie Riley Leonard is battling a knee strain that has his status for the Colts’ next game up in the air. Brett Rypien is also on the team’s practice squad, but it seems Chris Ballard and Shane Steichen might have other plans.

At 44 years old, and after five years of retirement, eight-time Pro Bowl quarterback Philip Rivers has made a return to the NFL, signing with the Colts’ practice squad.

Now this type of situation has happened before in the NFL, but it isn’t something that happens on a year-to-year basis. Let’s just say the last time someone returned after five seasons of retirement was Steve DeBerg for Atlanta in 1998, where he made one start, throwing 9 for 20 for 117 yards and a pick in a game they lost. Now, you may be asking, are there other options out there? Yes.

Ryan Tannehill, Taylor Heinicke, Desmond Ridder, and Dorian Thompson-Robinson are all quarterbacks who could have been a fill-in at the most important role for the Colts. Does this mean they would have been any better, not necessarily, but it wouldn’t have been a 44-year-old, five years retired, who has been coaching high school football in Alabama.

I’m not saying this won’t work; anything’s possible, but Rivers is older than his head coach and offensive coordinator. The remainder of the team’s schedule is the Seahawks, 49ers, Jaguars, and Texans, with three out of the four of those teams ranking in the top half of the league in defense.

Rivers is also a semifinalist for the 2026 class to potentially be inducted into the Hall of Fame. If he remains on the practice squad, he’ll remain eligible to be inducted. If he signs to the active roster, he will have to wait another five years to appear on the ballot as his eligibility will reset.