Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck missed the entire 2017 season following shoulder surgery. Given the severity of his injury, opposing teams apparently tried to test Indianapolis’ commitment to their franchise quarterback by calling the Colts for a potential deal at last season’s trade deadline.
But despite some concerns about Luck’s long-term health, Colts general manager Chris Ballard says he never really seriously considered trading Luck away.
“Look, we had some calls last year at the trade deadline,” Ballard said, per the team's official website. “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 resumé.”
Even though it’s now been over a year since his surgery, Luck still hasn’t been able to throw a football. However, he’s continued to make steady progress in his rehab and appears to be inching closer to that milestone. And once he does get back to throwing footballs again, the Colts apparently feel confident enough in Luck’s ability to get back to his old form that they didn’t bite on those trade offers.
It makes all the sense in the world for the Colts to act the way they did. When he’s at full health, Luck is one of the best quarterbacks in the entire NFL. Even with the injury to his shoulder, it’s worth taking a chance on that sort of talent given the significant upside. That's why opposing teams still wanted to acquire him even though he was sidelined.
It still remains to be seen whether Luck actually does return to his past greatness following that injury. But even if he doesn’t, hardly anyone would begrudge Ballard of his decision not to trade Luck, especially since just about every other GM in the league would do the same if they were in his position.
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