The Indianapolis Colts might soon be a part of a tampering investigation

After a recent report about a team reaching out to former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck, Jim Irsay makes clear that is considered tampering.

When Andrew Luck unexpectedly retired in 2019, he was coming off a Pro Bowl season where he won Comeback Player of the Year. Since that was the last football that everyone got to see him play, and he was only 29 years old, there was always a hope that he could one day come back.

There have also been efforts to get Luck back on the field. Of course, the Indianapolis Colts tried, and that’s been documented. However, it was recently reported by ESPN’s John Keim that the Washington Commanders were calling around ahead of last season to see if Luck would be willing to come out of retirement and play with them.

There’s a problem with that if it actually happened. Luck retried with three years left on his contract with the Colts. Indianapolis still owns the rights to that contract. So, that means if a team did reach out to Luck, it would be tampering. Indy’s owner Jim Irsay made that clear on Sunday night.

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

Jim Irsay warns teams about tampering with Andrew Luck

It’s unclear if anything will come from this, but it could end up being costly for the Washington Commanders. First, the league or the Colts will have to decide if they actually want to pursue an investigation. If Washington did actually contact Luck, the situation would probably be resolved like one of the two recent tampering situations that just took place in the NFL.

When the Miami Dolphins were found guilty of recruiting Tom Brady while he was still under contract with the New England Patriots, the league made the Dolphins forfeit their 2023 first-round pick and a 2024 third-round pick, and briefly suspended team owner Stephen Ross.

An even more recent example is the Arizona Cardinals contacting Jonathan Gannon while he was still with the Philadelphia Eagles, before Arizona was allowed to reach out. The two teams settled the tampering situation with a trade of draft picks.

That could be in the future for Washington and the Colts. It all depends on what direction the league decides on going, and if they find that the Commanders actually reached out to Andrew Luck.

Home/Colts News