INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Colts promoted 44-year-old quarterback Philip Rivers to their active roster Saturday, making him eligible to play in — and perhaps start — a crucial game against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.
The Colts (8-5) brought the Pro Football Hall of Fame semifinalist out of retirement Tuesday, when they signed him to the practice squad a day after the Alabama native came to Indianapolis for a throwing session on his birthday. Rivers practiced all week, but he hasn’t taken a snap in an NFL game since what appeared to be the end of his career after the 2020 season.
The move to add Rivers to the active roster will take him off the Hall of Fame ballot for the class of 2026. Rivers had been picked last month as one of 26 semifinalists, with the 15 finalists set to be announced later this month.
Rivers will no longer be eligible with Hall of Fame rules mandating a player being out of the league for at least five years before his candidacy can be considered. The earliest Rivers now can be a candidate for induction into the shrine in Canton, Ohio, is for the class of 2031.
The signing of Rivers came after coach Shane Steichen confirmed starting quarterback Daniel Jones would miss the rest of this season with a torn right Achilles tendon. Jones, who has worn No. 17 in his first season with the Colts, had surgery earlier this week and now is allowing Rivers to wear the No. 17 he suited up in throughout his long NFL career.
A college standout at North Carolina State, Rivers was the No. 4 pick of the 2004 NFL draft. He played his first 16 pro seasons with the Chargers, making the move with them from San Diego to Los Angeles for his final three years with the franchise. He then played for Indianapolis in 2020, helping the Colts to an 11-5 record, a second-place finish in the AFC South Division and a wild-card playoff berth. Their season ended with a 27-24 loss to the Buffalo Bills, who went on to reach the conference title game.
This season’s Colts have lost three straight games and four of their past five — needing overtime to beat the struggling Atlanta Falcons for the lone victory in that stretch — to fall out of the AFC South lead and into a tie for second with the Houston Texans, the division’s two-time reigning champions. The Jacksonville Jaguars (9-4), who beat Indianapolis 36-19 last weekend, sit atop the standings with four games left in the regular season.
The Colts also have slid into the No. 8 seed for the AFC’s seven-team playoff field. The Seahawks (10-3) are trying to stay in the title chase in the highly competitive NFC West with the Los Angeles Rams (10-3) and the San Francisco 49ers (9-4).
The Colts believe Rivers, an eight-time Pro Bowler who was the NFL’s comeback player of the year for the 2013 season and a Walter Payton Man of the Year finalist in 2011, can salvage their postseason hopes. Rivers still ranks among the league’s all-time top 10 in wins, career attempts, completions, passing yards, touchdown passes and 300-yard games.
Alternately, rookie Riley Leonard could make his first career start, but he has dealt with a right knee injury all week, and the only other quarterback currently available for the Colts is 29-year-old Brett Rypien, who also was promoted from the practice squad to the active roster this week. Rypien has appeared in 10 games in his NFL career and is 2-2 as a starter.