The old saying goes; if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
For the San Diego Chargers, quarterback Philip Rivers remains one of the five or six best signal-callers in the NFL. He's thrown for 36,655 yards and 252 touchdowns and has a career passer rating of 95.7 since being selected in the first-round of the 2004 NFL Draft by the Giants then immediately flipped to the Chargers.
He's been named to five Pro Bowls and won the 2013 AP Comeback Player of the Year award.
So, there's no reason to plan for a future without him, right?
Rivers is set to embark on his 12th NFL season. He's 33 and has dealt with a number of injury issues - knee injuries specifically - throughout his professional career.
He's led the Chargers to the playoffs five times in more than a decade and has just four postseason victories to his name.
He's also scheduled to become a free agent after next season.
While the consistent success is good, it's not greatness - it's not a Lombardi trophy. And while you can very easily point to all of Rivers' strengths - and there are many - and his willingness to play through injury and battle to the bitter end and fairly surmise that the lack of an NFL Championship says as much about the failings of the team around him as it does Rivers as the team's emotional leader, the fact is he has yet to bring San Diego a Super Bowl victory.
As Chip Kelly has proven in Philadelphia this offseason, good enough is not good enough, especially for an NFL team and fanbase that has become accustomed to a certain level of achievement year in and year out but hasn't seen a Super Bowl berth since 1994 - Marty Schottenheimer really was the most frustrating coach in NFL history, wasn't he?
Rivers has said he has every intention of remaining with the Chargers for the duration of his NFL career - but he also said that he's not particularly interested in a potential move to Los Angeles and prefers to wait until his current pact runs out before potentially negotiating a new deal with the organization.
"What I can control and all I know as of today, I am signed up for one more year," Rivers said, per Kevin Acee of U-T San Diego. "I guess things could change, but with all the uncertainty in many aspects, I don't see it changing before camp gets here, and when camp gets here I'm even more certain to play it out."
With Rivers unwilling to address his future and much closer to the end of his career than the beginning, could the Chargers be readying to secure his eventual replacement?
Chargers GM Tom Telesco has already scheduled a private workout for former Oregon quarterback and Heisman Trophy-winner Marcus Mariota in mid-April and while the young signal-caller is expected to go well before the Chargers spot at 17th overall in the 2015 NFL Draft, a move up is not out of the question.
"Numerous people in and around the league have speculated that the team could be serious about acquiring Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota, whom they are scheduled to work out next month," writes Acee. "While there are plausible explanations for investigating a first-round QB to that extent without intending to acquire him, Mariota is expected to be gone well before the Chargers pick at No. 17."
Telesco has said the team "definitely" plans to address the fact that Rivers will be a free agent after the 2015 season, per Michael Gehlken of U-T San Diego.
"I don't like Philip as our QB, I love him," Telesco told Chris Wesseling of NFL.com. "And I'll go to war with him."
Rivers could very well re-up with the team and finish his NFL career with the Chargers, but with a potential relocation looming and considering his advancing age and continually questionable health, it sounds like there are more than a few potential roadblocks to that outcome.
If so, Mariota could prove a ready replacement once Rivers moves on after next season.
