9:47pm: Washington is not believed to have contacted Luck, his father (former NFL quarterback Oliver Luck) or his uncle, who has served an agent figure, according to Mark Maske and Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post. The Colts are seeking to confirm if an inquiry emerged through an intermediary. Despite the report of the Commanders contacting Luck emerging a year ago, Irsay appears to be pursuing this in earnest now.
12:46pm: The Commanders are firmly committed to Sam Howell as their starting quarterback in 2023, but they faced a pressing need at the position last offseason. That ultimately led the team to make an interesting – and perhaps controversial – inquiry. 
Washington made a wide-ranging effort to secure a veteran signal-caller in 2022, and that included talks with the Colts over two quarterbacks. One was Carson Wentz – whom the Commanders ultimately acquired via trade – and the other was Andrew Luck. Conversations concerning the latter were very brief and didn’t make a difference with respect to his lack of a playing future, but they re-surfaced recently and caught the attention of the Colts.
ESPN’s John Keim – who detailed the Luck-centered discussions last March – referenced those talks this past weekend in a piece detailing the Commanders’ confidence in Howell, their 2022 fifth-rounder. The specifics regarding Luck inquiries could reveal whether or not tampering occurred, something Colts owner Jim Irsay acknowledged in response to the Washington news coming up again.
“If any NFL Team attempted to contact Andrew Luck [or any associate of him]… to play for their Franchise,” Irsay wrote, ” it would be a clear Violation of the League’s Tampering Policy” (Twitter link).
Luck has been retired since 2019, but three years remained on his contract when he made the surprising decision to walk away from the game. The 33-year-old’s pact tolled, and as a result the Colts still hold his rights, as detailed by Keim’s colleague Stephen Holder. Indianapolis would thus need to be made aware of any attempts made by other teams to lure him out of retirement, though that remains all but certain not to happen. Luck is focused on his post-football life and is not eyeing a return to playing.
Holder adds that the Colts are currently “unclear about the nature of the conversations” Washington had regarding Luck, and are “seeking to learn more about what exactly transpired and whether any tampering occurred.” While that takes place, Washington will continue to move forward with Howell in place as Wentz’s successor, after the team made the expected move of releasing the latter following a disappointing one-and-done campaign in the nation’s capital.
Interestingly, Keim notes that Washington would have considered selecting Hendon Hooker in this year’s draft had he still been available by their third-round pick. That wasn’t the case, so the Commanders remain set with Howell and veteran backup Jacoby Brissett as their top two signal-callers. It will be interesting to monitor what developments, if any, take place after the Colts’ investigation into their Luck inquiries is completed.
So he sits since 2019 and Irsay wants to play the tampering card? Really… someone is hard up for attention
It’s more so stupidity from Washington to even risk it for Luck, than anything. He’s been out of football for years now, he’s clearly done. Who even knows what his play would look like at this point. They might as well try to reunite Kuechly with Ron Rivera, too.
Their defense could look even better with Patrick Willis and Chris Borland too
Luck who retired after 2018 season and was signed through 2021 could’ve signed with any team last offseason had he been interested. There’s no tampering what Irsay is alluding too
No, the Colts still have Luck’s contract rights. At least until now, since they just took Richardson, they would’ve wanted Luck to play for them if he came back. If he was thinking about coming back, they wouldn’t want another team messing around trying to sway him to them and cut a deal for him to force his way out of Indy.
It is pretty ridiculous, but it may be correct. When players retire, they are put on a “reserve/retired” list. The contract is held in place with the amount of time remaining on it. If the player decided to unretire, he would still be under that contract. In the meantime, the team still holds his rights as an asset. It sounds similar to what NBA teams do with draft rights. The NFL does it with rights to coaches. That’s why the Broncos had to give up a pick to sign Sean Payton who had been away from the Saints for over a year.
The one difference here is that it’s possible Luck’s name came up in passing in discussions between the GMs or their staffs while they were discussing the Carson Wentz trade without it going back to Irsay because it was known to be a moot point. If that’s what happened in 2022, there was no tampering. The issue is being rehashed now, so Irsay is trying to make an issue of it.
His contract is frozen.so colts still have 3 years of control.
This is stupid on both fronts. Stupid for Washington to reach out thinking they were the juicy situation to lure Luck from a 3 year retirement, especially stupid doing it without contacting the colts first knowing that’s tampering, and also stupid for Irsay to get his feathers ruffled over such a nothing situation.
It’s unclear what happened. It’s possible his name was thrown around between the GMs during the Wentz trade negotiations, but the idea was quickly dismissed without it going back to Irsay.
Irsay: “I once had a girlfriend in college and I’d be very upset if someone inquired about her availability”.
Colts and Commanders deserve one another.
Colts just draft a QB #4 overall and still can’t let go of the Luck era.
It’s not about letting go of Luck. It’s about protecting their rights to a player who never completed his contract.
The Washington Redskins would try to tap up Andrew Luck? Why not bring Rex Grossman out of mothballs?
Luck was one of the last overpaid rookies. Who can blame him for bowing out after earning $100+ million? Doesn’t everyone want to win the lottery?
Luck has paid for his contract with screws throughout his body. The guy is the bionic man at this point.
Irsay has had a bee up his bonnet about Dan Snyder since the team was up for sale so this will be another attempt to make things hard for Dan. While all Washington fans would like their pound of flesh, this is a nothing-burger. In fact, Irsay has more to answer regarding his own team, hiring decisions, etc.
Irsay has had a bee up his bonnet about Dan Snyder since the team was up for sale so this will be another attempt to make things hard for Dan. While all Washington fans would like their pound of flesh, this is a nothing-burger, as Luck’s camp has come out and said no contact as been made. In fact, Irsay has more to answer regarding his own team, hiring decisions, etc.
So the Colts fleece the Redskins for Carson Wentz and Irsay is still going to complain? There’s two owners who really need to be kicked out of the NFL. Jim Irsay is one, and the other is Cal McNair. Both meddle, both are troublemakers. Lots more bad press and broken rules ahead as long as these jerks control the Colts and the Texans.
Jim Irsay and Cal McNair are “troublemakers”? The Haslams ran a diesel fuel rebate scam in their truck stop empire. Daniel Snyder enshrined a corporate culture of greed and misogyny. Stephen Ross tapped up Tom Brady to the point of nearly getting thrown out of the league.
Think like a rational citizen, not like a dumb sports fan!
Robert Kraft had a memorable time down in Florida, but luckily for him his buddies in the NFL office swept that under the rug as well.