Jim Irsay warns teams about tampering with Andrew Luck after report of Washington's interest last year

Update: No contact with Luck

Update: John Keim appeared on 106.7’s B Mitch and Finlay show to talk about Washington’s interest in Andrew Luck last year:

“Hey, what’s his status? Still out? Boom. Move on. It wasn’t a big deal. It wasn’t like there was like hey, trying to convince him to come back or anything like that. It wasn’t anything like that at all. It was a check, move on.”

John Keim published a story about Sam Howell yesterday that included a throwaway line relating to the Washington Commanders QB search last season. Washington famously called around the entire league checking on QB availability from starters to backups, and even retired players like Andrew Luck. They eventually traded for Carson Wentz after getting rejected by Russell Wilson. Here is Keim's original blurb about Washington's interest in Luck.

At one point they even wondered: Would Andrew Luck, the retired former Colt, want to play again? That went nowhere. But whether it was realistic or a Lloyd Christmas “So you’re telling me there’s a chance” scenario, they wanted to make sure every “i” was dotted.

Keim slightly expanded on that by saying Washington had called about Luck, but didn't give specifics on who they called which led to several people on twitter running with the story.

Even so, they didn’t feel the same urgency they did last offseason, when they called every team that might have a quarterback available. They even phoned about retired Andrew Luck, just in case. They ultimately traded two third-round picks to Indianapolis for Carson Wentz and his $28 million cap hit. Then, they cut Wentz at season’s end after injuries and inconsistent play contributed to him finishing 30th in QBR after just eight starts. This offseason, their only move at the position was signing veteran Jacoby Brissett.

Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay got wind of this "new" story and issued a warning to any other teams that might attempt to contact Luck, who is still under contract with his team. Indianapolis might investigate who Washington contacted, and whether any tampering took place.

If the Commanders did contact Luck, or someone associated with him, without contacting the Colts to get permission, they could face fines and a loss of draft picks. The Chiefs lost a 3rd and a 6th round pick for tampering with Jeremy Maclin in 2015. More recently the Miami Dolphins had to forfeit their first round pick, were fined, and owner Stephen Ross was suspended after "unprecedented" levels of tampering with Tom Brady and Sean Payton.

ESPN reported Saturday that Washington made attempts in 2022 to learn whether Luck had any interest in returning to the NFL. It is unclear who, exactly, Washington had contact with about Luck.

A Colts source said the team is unclear about the nature of the conversations, but it is seeking to learn more about what exactly transpired and whether any tampering occurred.

The NFL’s anti-tampering policy is somewhat vague, but direct contact with a player is not required for a violation to occur.

“Any public or private statement of interest, qualified or unqualified, in another club’s player to that player’s agent or representative, or to a member of the news media, is a violation,” the relevant portion of the policy states.