SAN DIEGO (AP) – The San Diego Chargers sold Drew Brees down the river and ended up with a Rivers.

Their quarterback depth chart included a guy over 40 and another one named Lemon, yet it was Brees who was considered washed up and damaged goods. The one-time Purdue star was so far out of the picture in the offseason that it’d be hard to find him even with the telescope at the Palomar Observatory.

Look at him now.

Playing behind a better line, and throwing to better receivers, he’s passing with an authority not seen here since the days of Dan Fouts. In leading the high-scoring Chargers in the direction of a rare playoff appearance, Brees might be saving everyone’s job but his own.

In an incredible turnaround, the Chargers can’t get enough of Brees. He’s led them to a 5-3 record by throwing 14 touchdown passes and just three interceptions. His passer rating of 106.8 is third best in the NFL.

Last week he threw a career-high five touchdown passes in a 42-14 rout of the Oakland Raiders. No Chargers QB has done that since Fouts in 1982.

He completed 88 percent of his passes (22-of-25). No Chargers QB had done that, period.

And his passer rating of 153.1 was just under a perfect 158.3.

“We all trust Drew,” tight end Antonio Gates said. “Right now, he’s the captain of the ship. He’s making this offense click.”

The good ship Charger can’t sail without a Brees. For this season, at least.

Even if Brees leads the Chargers to the playoffs – which they’ve missed for eight straight years – it’s doubtful he’ll be back. Not with Philip Rivers sitting at No. 2 on the depth chart, with all his promise as a first-round draft pick and that $40 million contract.

Brees, the one-time quarterback of the future, drafted by San Diego along with star running back LaDainian Tomlinson in 2001, is probably past the point of no return.

“I have no idea what the chances of me being here next year are,” said Brees, who’s in the final year of his four-year contract. “All I know is we’ve got a chance to do something special this year, and I’m excited about that. I mean, for me right now, it’s about winning football games. It’s about nothing else.”

The Chargers won just four games last year, and Brees’ inconsistent play made him the easy scapegoat. He threw 15 interceptions and just 11 touchdown passes, was benched for five straight games and yanked from two others.

“I could turn on the film and watch myself last year and say, That’s not me. That’s not the way I play,’ ” Brees said.

In fairness, everyone but Tomlinson had a bad season. The defense was brutal and the Chargers were usually playing from behind. Brees never meshed with troubled wideout David Boston, and defensive end Marcellus Wiley openly called for Doug Flutie to replace Brees. Boston and Wiley are gone.

“Everyone’s making plays for him now, where last year I don’t think we were making the plays where we needed to, and he was taking a lot of the heat,” tight end Justin Peelle said.

With the Chargers holding the first pick in last April’s draft, general manager A.J. Smith said the team needed to “upgrade” at quarterback.

The front office went on a well-publicized quarterback tour, visiting Eli Manning, Ben Roethlisberger and Rivers.

Rivers became a Charger on draft day, obtained along with a handful of draft picks from the New York Giants for Manning, who had told the Chargers he wanted nothing to do with them.

Brees was disappointed for about a week, then got motivated to keep his job.

“My personality has always been take a negative and turn it into a positive,” Brees said. “It’s only going to make me a better player. And once I do become the starter – because in my mind I’ve already got it made up that I’m going to become the starter – everybody in this locker room is going to know that I’ve earned it. So I said, Hey, this could be a good situation.’ “

While Rivers missed the first month of training camp in a holdout, Brees had a solid exhibition season and kept his job. Rivers was later promoted from third string to second, but has yet to take a snap.

Flutie, the 42-year-old third-stringer, said Brees is more confident and decisive.

“But he’s the same quarterback,” Flutie said. “It’s like we are a better football team. Guys are actually open. It’s given him the opportunity to show his ability, where the last couple years, it’s been tough sledding.”

Since Brees turned it on, there hasn’t been much talk about the Chargers firing coach Marty Schottenheimer, who has a year to go on his contract, or Smith.

And Brees could be helping owner Alex Spanos save millions of dollars if the Chargers’ first-round pick next April is lower than their usual top-five choice. The Giants, who owe the Chargers their first-round pick as part of the QB swap, are probably making Spanos happy, too, by starting out 5-2.

The Chargers could designate Brees as their franchise player, but that would require paying him about $9 million next year. Coupled with Rivers’ salary of just under $3 million, that would probably be unlikely.

“Obviously, Philip Rivers was drafted to play,” left tackle Roman Oben said. “But Drew is only in his fourth year, he’s only 25 years old. He has a lot of good football ahead of him, whether it’s here or somewhere else.”

It’s more likely Brees is setting himself up for a nice free-agent contract.

The Chargers aren’t saying what they’ll do with Brees at season’s end, and they really don’t have to right now.

“I have steadfastly said that I think Drew Brees is a good quarterback and can be a winning quarterback,” Schottenheimer said.

It just might not be here for much longer.

“I’m going to be the future somewhere,” said Brees, who understands the business side of the NFL. “I hope it’s here. If it’s not, it’ll be somewhere.”

AP-ES-11-04-04 1917EST