Colts GM Ballard never considered Luck trade offers
Despite his injury woes, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck was never in jeopardy of losing his roster spot.
Colts general manager Chris Ballard confirmed the team received offers for Luck in October ahead of the trade deadline but declined to proceed with a deal.
"Look, we had some calls last year at the trade deadline," Ballard said. "And I just — come on man. I'm not taking those seriously.
"We're not trading Andrew Luck. I'm not putting that on my resume."
Colts owner Jim Irsay reiterated Ballard's faith in Luck, saying the three-time Pro Bowl player is expected to throw without restrictions by the start of training camp with the hopes of getting back to his usual form by the regular season.
"Trust me, there were people that would’ve given an unprecedented amount of draft picks, all with a No. 1 (pick) behind them, for him, and we wouldn’t even think of drifting in that direction," Irsay said. "He’s our guy.
"We feel 100 percent confident that he is going to come back and lead this football team with some of the new teammates he’s accumulated to great things."
Luck, 28, missed the entire 2017 season and a large chunk of 2016 with a lingering shoulder injury.
Although he still has not thrown NFL-sized footballs, he indicated earlier this month that his recovery process is progressing and was even present at practice when Indianapolis kicked off its voluntary minicamp last week.