The Indianapolis Colts and Washington Commanders have reportedly resolved a dispute over alleged tampering related to retired quarterback Andrew Luck. The Commanders were found to have never spoken to Luck or any of his associates, according to a Monday report from ESPN’s Stephen Holder.
Similarly, The Washington Post’s Mark Maske and Nicki Jhabvala reported Sunday the Commanders were “unlikely to face any penalties.” A source told them the NFL lacked “enough hard evidence” to implicate the team.
The Commanders came into question after a report on May 6 from ESPN’s John Keim, which claimed the Commanders “phoned about” Luck in the Spring of 2022. The report depicted a desperate point in Washington’s quarterback search, as Luck has been away from the NFL since the 2019 season.
Colts owner Jim Irsay appeared to respond to the report. Since the team still owns the rights to Luck’s contract, he delivered a notice about the NFL’s tampering policy via social media:
A day after ESPN’s report and Irsay’s Tweet, the Washington Post reported that the Colts filed a formal request with the NFL for an investigation into potential tampering by the Commanders. According to the report, the Colts asked the league to investigate any improper attempts to contact Luck through intermediaries.
For what it’s worth, a conversation between Luck and the Commanders probably wouldn’t have been very fruitful. He retired unexpectedly in 2019, with three years remaining on his contract. The Colts allowed him to keep the full $24.8 million in signing bonus payments that they could have recovered. He was 29 at the time and the team hoped he would return to the sport.
He’s 33 now, and shows no interest in playing football professionally again. An in-depth profile by ESPN’s Seth Wickersham in December detailed how he had fallen out of love with the game.
Now it’s time for the Colts to shift their attention to former Gator Anthony Richardson, who the team picked fourth overall in this year’s draft. He is Indianapolis’ highest-drafted quarterback since Luck was selected with the No. 1 pick in 2012.