Jim Irsay issued a warning on Sunday to NFL teams regarding Andrew Luck.
On Saturday, ESPN’s John Keim published a story about the Washington Commanders going with Sam Howell at quarterback. In the same story, Keim said the team was so desperate for a quarterback last year, they called around to every team with a quarterback they thought might be available. Keim even noted that the team checked in on Luck, who is retired.
Irsay apparently saw the report and is not happy about it.
The Indianapolis Colts owner sent a warning via Twitter in response to the Luck report.
“If any NFL Team,attempted to contact Andrew Luck (or any associate of him)… to play for their Franchise – it would be a clear Violation of the League’s Tampering Policy,” Irsay tweeted.
If any NFL Team,attempted to contact Andrew Luck (or any associate of him)… to play for their Franchise – it would be a clear Violation of the League’s Tampering Policy.
— Jim Irsay (@JimIrsay) May 8, 2023
Luck was the No. 1 overall pick in 2012 by the Colts. He was with them until surprisingly retiring ahead of the 2019 season.
The 33-year-old former quarterback signed a 5-year, $122.97 million contract extension with the team in June 2016. He was still under contract with the Colts through 2021 at the time he retired.
The Colts still retain the NFL rights to Luck and could pursue a tampering claim against Washington in response to the report.
This is a reference to a mention of the Commanders reaching out in 2022 to a third party to assess Andrew Luck’s interest in coming out of retirement, per @john_keim. It obviously went nowhere. He’s done playing.
But the Colts own his rights and might pursue it, I’m told. https://t.co/WRaGRrIzqw
— Stephen Holder (@HolderStephen) May 8, 2023
What’s interesting is this information is not exactly new. Keim reported the news back in March 2022, when the Commanders were in their pursuit of a quarterback. Keim recycled that report but it wasn’t until now that Irsay decided to issue a warning.
Luck seems to be happy in retirement and have no interest in making a comeback. But you can’t fault a team for at least wanting to test Luck’s commitment to retirement.
