Philip Rivers: I feel fine playing my contract out

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Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers is heading into the final year of his contract, but he’s not in any hurry to get an extension.

Rivers, who has an $11 million salary and $5 million roster bonus this year, said on SiriusXM NFL Radio that he is fully prepared to play out 2019 and re-start negotiations with the Chargers in 2020.

“I feel fine playing this thing out,” Rivers said. “The expectation and hope is to be here again next year, but it doesn’t need to be done right now. If it were to some time soon, great. If not, let’s play it out and worry about it in the winter.”

The Chargers currently have a little more than $10 million in cap space, and Rivers was asked whether a new contract would reduce his own cap number and leave room for holdout running back Melvin Gordon.

“If it does, awesome,” Rivers said. “You want our team to have the best chance to win. Hopefully we see Melvin soon. I think Melvin adds a great deal to our team.”

But a Rivers extension doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with Gordon’s contract. The Chargers could give Gordon a raise without Rivers freeing up any cap space. That they haven’t means they don’t agree with Gordon about how much he’s worth.

But while Gordon and the Chargers aren’t seeing eye to eye, Rivers sounds happy with the team regardless of whether a new contract comes this year or next year.