The loop has now been completed.
On Saturday, ESPN published an article that mentioned in passing the Commanders inquired about Andrew Luck when searching for a potential starting quarterback in 2022. The article did not specify whether the Commanders asked the Colts, or whether the Commanders reached out to Luck or someone connected to him.
On Sunday night, we posted an item about the Luck nugget. Not long thereafter, Colts owner Jim Irsay tweeted a warning to anyone who has contacted Luck, saying it would be a “clear violation” of the league’s tampering rules.
Now, ESPN reports that the Colts are “seeking to learn more about what exactly transpired and whether any tampering occurred.”
This shouldn’t be very difficult to piece together. John Keim of ESPN.com wrote the article that mentioned the inquiry about Luck. He should know, or should be able to find out, whether the Commanders asked the Colts or Luck or someone tied to Luck.
The Colts should be able to figure out whether, in conversations that culminated in the trade that sent Carson Wentz to Washington, the Commanders asked about Luck. If Luck was never mentioned by the Commanders to the Colts, it’s more likely that tampering occurred.
It could be a simple situation of Irsay making assumptions before making inquiries. If, as it turns out, the Commanders directly approached the Colts about Luck and did not contact Luck or anyone close to him, there would be no tampering violation.
Time will tell whether Irsay’s allegation hits the mark, or whether he reacted to the item about the Commanders being interested in Luck without asking his football employees about it. And it could be the first example of a team trying to seize upon the precedent created by the league’s handling of the Jonathan Gannon tampering situation to leverage better draft position from a team that allegedly tampered.