May 08, 2023
The Commanders were looking any and everywhere for a quarterback last offseason before settling on Carson Wentz, to the point where apparently they even asked about a guy who had already been several years retired with no more interest left in football.
In a feature detailing Washington's commitment to their current QB Sam Howell over the weekend, ESPN's John Keim revealed that last year, the Commanders had asked around about the availability of former Colt Andrew Luck, who retired before the 2019 season due to mounting injuries.
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. [ESPN]
A problem in just one line because even though Luck is retired, he's still under contract with Indianapolis, and those reported calls, Colts owner Jim Irsay didn't seem to know about them until the story was published and took exception.
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.
— Jim Irsay (@JimIrsay) May 8, 2023
The Eagles have gotten real familiar with the NFL's anti-tampering policy of late because of the Arizona Cardinals' illegal conversations with former defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon ahead of the Super Bowl, and that the NFC East rival Commanders could've been in violation of that policy a year ago would only add to a mountain of issues that organization has accumulated on and off the field.
And all for calls that would've gone nowhere too.
Luck suddenly retired a few years ago after he was faced with another lengthy rehab process from a list of injuries that had piled up. He also, as it was revealed later on, had fallen out of love with football and has no intentions of coming back.
In the end, the Commanders did get a QB from Indy in Wentz for a couple of picks – when the Colts wanted him out anyway – it didn't work, and now the on-field product looks like it's just trying to tread water until the sale to Sixers owner Josh Harris goes through.
Per ESPN's Stephen Holder, the Colts have also begun looking into what those calls about Luck were about and who they were too.
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