Why is Jim Irsay suing Commanders? Colts GM threatens tampering case amid Andrew Luck saga
Jim Irsay has come out swinging regarding Andrew Luck and reports that he's wanted at the Washington Commanders. It was said that given the situation in the capital, the franchise is looking to lure the quarterback out of retirement to become their starter.
Currently, they have Sam Howell as their starter. They let Taylor Heinicke and Carson Wentz leave. Jacoby Brissett has been brought in as a back-up. It's not the strongest room, so the new ownership will look at a marquee quarterback to begin their new era.
That's where Andrew Luck comes in. However, Jim Irsay has now been quick to remind everyone that the Indianapolis Colts have the right to first refusal for the player who retired while under contract with them. So, any approach by the Commanders or anyone else would be deemed as tampering and in violation of league policy.
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.
The way retirement in the NFL works is that if a player steps away, it's assumed that the existing contract gets frozen but kicks in if the footballer returns to the league.
That allows teams to ensure that players do not retire only to use it as an opportunity to go to another team without any compensation in return.
Jim Irsay's strong position on Andrew Luck hides his own anguish
Jim Irsay's love for Andrew Luck is well known. When the Indianapolis Colts drafted the quarterback with their first overall pick, their starting quarterback was Peyton Manning. Unfortunately, the Hall-of-Famer was sidelined the previous season due to a neck surgery he had to undergo.
With Manning out, the Colts plunged all the way to the bottom of the league and top of the NFL draft. Instead of waiting for Peyton to return and set the ship back on course, he chose to use that position to draft Andrew Luck.
He let go off one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time to not miss a chance to have Luck play for his team.
Peyton Manning went to the Denver Broncos and broke all sorts of passing records before winning another Super Bowl, but the Indianapolis Colts had no such luck. It was hardly Andrew Luck's fault, though, as he was one of the best quarterbacks in the league at the time.
However, after too many injuries and missed games, the quarterback who was supposed to be the Colts' future retired instead. Since then, they have gone through three different quarterbacks in the last as many seasons and have now drafted Anthony Richardson to stop the slide.
Hence, Jim Irsay is understandably miffed to see another team tap up the quarterback who was supposed to be his savior.