Philip Rivers, with 649 passing yards, will leapfrog Ben Roethlisberger on all-time career list

Philip Rivers is back. And he could be playing for the Colts as soon as this weekend.

If/when he does, each yard he generates in the passing game will move him closer to moving from No. 7 to No. 6 on the all-time passing yardage list.

Currently, Rivers has 63,440 yards. Former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has 64,088 yards. With 649 yards, Rivers will leapfrog Roethlisberger.

Of course, it likely will come down to a question of No. 7 vs. No. 8. Ram quarterback Matthew Stafford is about to skip past both of them.

Stafford, No. 8 on the list, has 63,163 yards. He’s only 277 behind Rivers, and 925 behind Roethlisberger. As a result, Big Ben quite possibly is less than a month away from falling to No. 8.

Which leads to the next question. If Rivers, at 44, can return after not playing since 2020, could Roethlisberger come back after not playing since 2021? He has said that the 49ers gauged his interest in 2022.

“I’d be lying if I didn’t say there was a small part of me that was intrigued,” Roethlisberger said in 2023. “I could still do it and prove to people that I could still play. At the end of the day, I just can’t see myself in anything other than black and gold.”

So there it is. The door is closed for Roethlisberger. Just like everyone thought it was for Rivers. Until yesterday.