Irsay Warns that Contact with Andrew Luck Would be Tampering, One Last Snyder Blunder? and Other NFL Bullets

May 8, 2023, by Patrick K. Flowers NFL

Storm watching was always a fun little thing that my siblings and I did as kids but haven’t done in recent years since we’ve all started our own lives and left the nest. However, I had my kids over by my parents last night. As a storm brewed in the distance, we watched the lightning ripple through the sky. It was a friendly reminder of yesteryear and an excellent experience to relive an old tradition with my kids. While the storm was brewing, so was something involving retired NFL quarterback Andrew Luck, Colts owner Jim Irsay, and the Washington Commanders.

Around 9:00 pm, Colts owner Jim Irsay took to Twitter to share a tweet that turned some heads, as he often does. Irsay warned that “if any NFL team attempted to contact Andrew Luck (or any associate of him) to play for their franchise,” that would violate the NFL’s tampering 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.
— Jim Irsay (@JimIrsay) May 8, 2023

After some brief digging, I missed a Pro Football Talk post highlighting an interesting nugget from ESPN’s John Keim. In Keim’s story about the Commanders being “all-in” on Sam Howell, Keim shared that the Commanders were so desperate to land a new starting quarterback in 2022 that they even called Andrew Luck to see if he was interested in strapping on a helmet again: “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.”

So, Irsay’s warning wasn’t related to something that has happened this offseason, as far as we know. Still, it signaled that Irsay is now aware of the alleged call made last year by the Commanders. It could signal something brewing in the form of a tampering investigation.

If Irsay or the league office can prove that the Commanders did indeed reach out to Luck last year, the Commanders would be open to discipline from the NFL, including fines and the loss of draft picks. We saw the Dolphins lose out on their first-round pick in the NFL Draft a couple of weeks ago. We also saw the NFL allow the Cardinals and Eagles to self-litigate a tampering violation by the Cardinals about Arizona’s hiring of new head coach Jonathan Gannon. That deal between the Eagles and the Cardinals cost the Cardinals draft picks.

If Commanders owner Daniel Snyder somehow cost the Commanders future draft capital on his way out the door due to another blatant overstep, it would be the icing on the cake in what has been a disastrous tenure for Snyder in D.C., both on and off the field. The NFL never sleeps, not even on a story Sunday evening in the Chicagoland area.

In that John Keim story at ESPN, Keim discusses the Commanders’ faith in Howell heading into 2023. Keim paints a picture of a quarterback who arrived in Washington with sloppy footwork and a lack of fundamentals but one who had the talent to succeed once he had time to get up to speed at the NFL level. It’s worth a read if you’ve got some time today:

Why Washington is all-in on Sam Howell as its quarterback… more than just one start. Now? He’ll have to prove them right. https://t.co/PuWND04yNR
— John Keim (@john_keim) May 6, 2023

Peter King shared some interesting — maybe even disappointing — news regarding the schedule release in his latest FMIA column today. According to reports, the NFL had scheduled a grand event for Thursday evening to release the schedule. However, some sections of the schedule are still reportedly subject to change.

“It’s still likely to be done in time for release Thursday at 8 p.m., but I was told over the weekend it may not be finished in time. The 2023 mega-games—opening Thursday, Sunday and Monday nights, Thanksgiving Day, the new Black Friday tilt, the Sunday night game on Christmas Eve and the Monday tripleheader on Christmas—are not set in stone yet. The mega-games are usually solid by early May. The schedule crew is slated to meet with commissioner Roger Goodell this afternoon in New York, at which time more clarity on the tentpole games is expected. I’m told as of the weekend the NFL was still in search of options on the 272-game regular season slate, with a series of computers continuing to spit out alternatives.”

Well, that’s disappointing. King also cautioned to pump the brakes on some of the Chiefs-Germany chatter:

“Kansas City is playing a November game in Frankfurt this year; that’s a fact. The German newspaper Bild reported KC would play Chicago in the Germany game, and that KC would play again in Germany in 2024 when Carolina is due to host a game there. Bild reported Carolina’s 2024 foe would be Kansas City. I’ve been told there’s some doubt on both of those reports. First: When a team gives up one of its home games to play overseas, it has the option of requesting to the league one home game on its schedule the team does not want moved. I’m told Kansas City requested that the Chicago game not be played overseas. As for 2024, it’s hard to imagine Carolina would not try to keep Patrick Mahomes’ only currently scheduled game in Charlotte for the next eight years at Bank of America Stadium. You might ask, Wouldn’t Kansas City want to protect red-hot home games against Buffalo, Cincinnati and Philadelphia from moving to Germany? The league would almost certainly not schedule those games for overseas, because Germany games are played in the 9:30 a.m. ET window, which is not nearly as conducive to big ratings as are Sunday late-afternoon or primetime games.”

So, the Bears-Chiefs game overseas isn’t as much of a lock as we were led to believe. That makes plenty of sense to King’s point regarding the Chiefs’ marquee matchups with teams like the Bills, Bengals, and Eagles. But why would the Chiefs request that they not play the Bears in Germany this season? I want to think — as a fan — that they’re scared of Justin Fields. However, it’s more likely that the Chicago draw to Kansas City might be one that they don’t want to concede.

I loved both of my trips to Kansas City, one for pleasure and one for business. So, I could see plenty of Chicagoans making the trek to KCMO for that contest.