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The Indianapolis Colts want other NFL teams to know they consider contacting former quarterback Andrew Luck or his representatives to be tampering.
Team owner Jim Irsay made it clear in a Twitter post late Sunday night following a weekend report from ESPN that the Washington Commanders attempted to find out in 2022 whether the four-time Pro Bowler would consider making a comeback.
Luck retired abruptly in August 2019 at age 29 with three years left on his contract. Irsay even allowed Luck to keep the full $24.8 million in bonus money instead of trying to collect some of that money.
So Irsay responded with a warning.
“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 wrote.
A message left by The Associated Press seeking comment from the NFL was not immediately returned.
Luck has shown no indication he wants to play again and when he returned to Lucas Oil Stadium for the college football championship game in early 2022, the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2012 appeared to have slimmed down significantly from his playing weight of 240 pounds.
He’s shown no interest in making a comeback even as the Colts spent years searching for Luck’s replacement.
Whomever starts this year’s season opener will be the seventh different starter in seven years for Indy.
The report came less than two weeks after Indy drafted former Florida star Anthony Richardson with the No. 4 overall pick, hopeful he’ll be the new franchise quarterback.
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A good owner would WANT teams encouraging Luck to come out of retirement, so we could get SOMETHING of value for him. We still have his rights. That’s what trades and compensatory picks are for. I wonder how the rest of the locker room feels about Irsay saying that–especially Anthony Richardson. smh
A good owner plays by the rules. So, if a team wants to give the Colts compensation for Luck’s services, they have to talk to the Colts anyway, so they should just follow the rules and ask the Colts for permission to talk to Luck in the first instance. BTW, Luck is now 34 years old; he’s not coming back.