Years after his retirement, former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck is still making headlines.
Despite having been retired going on four years, Luck’s name still pops up now and again. The latest bit of news came from an ESPN report that claimed the Washington Commanders contacted Luck during their search for a quarterback last offseason.
That raised a red flag for Colts owner Jim Irsay, considering Luck is still technically under contract with the team despite being on the retired list. According to NFL rules, teams cannot contact players (or representatives) under contract with another team.
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
When Luck retired, his contract didn’t simply run out. It was tolled in accordance with Appendix A of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Unless this contract specifically provides otherwise, if Player becomes a member of the Armed Forces of the United States or any other country, or retires from professional football as an active player, or otherwise fails or refuses to perform his services under this contract, then this contract will be tolled between the date of Player’s induction into the Armed Forces, or his retirement, or his failure or refusal to perform, and the later date of his return to professional football. During the period this contract is tolled, Player will not be entitled to any compensation or benefits. On Player’s return to professional football, the term of this contract will be extended for a period of time equal to the number of seasons (to the nearest multiple of one) remaining at the time the contract was tolled. The right of renewal, if any, contained in this contract will remain in effect until the end of any such extended term.
The Colts still hold the rights to Luck’s contract and because he’s unlikely to come back, it isn’t clear how much longer they will hold those rights. Still, it would technically be tampering if a team reached out to Luck last offseason.
We’ve seen the league come down hard on teams for tampering. The Miami Dolphins are the most recent case, and they lost their first-round pick in the 2023 NFL draft.
We’ll see if anything comes of it, but this may be something to monitor over the offseason.
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