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Former NFL quarterbacks Andrew Luck and Ryan Tannehill speaking after an NFL game.
A family reunion!
A panel of NFL Media Group members was asked, which former NFL player would you want to return to action, and which team would he play for? Digital Content Editor Jeremy Bergman said Andrew Luck to the New York Jets.
“The first pick of the 2012 draft unceremoniously stepped away from the NFL during the 2019 preseason but has stayed around the game. Currently the general manager of Stanford football, Luck is just 36 years old, younger than three starting QBs in the NFL in 2026 (Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford, Kirk Cousins). Luck is set up pretty nice now that he’s no longer getting walloped by pass rushers, but if he ever wished to live to his generational potential, there’s still time. Though his old gig is currently occupied by Danny Dimes, Luck can reunite with former Colts boss Frank Reich in New York as a Geno Smith escape hatch and potential bridge,” Bergman wrote.
Luck made $109 million in career earnings during his playing career, per Spotrac.
Luck, 36, will turn 37 during the 2026 season. He hasn’t played a game in the NFL since the 2018 season. Luck walked away from the game at the age of 29.
Who was his head coach in Indianapolis when he retired? Current Jets offensive coordinator Frank Reich.
Believe it or not, Reich actually jokingly tried to get Luck out of retirement when he was hired by the Jets this offseason.
“Andrew, I’m in a bind,” Reich told Luck, according to Dan Pompei of The Athletic. “I need your help. Will you be my interim quarterback?”
It was a wink and a nod to the request that Luck made of Reich at Stanford.
“They laughed hard because they both knew there was no possibility that Luck would resume his playing career. They also laughed hard because it wasn’t that long ago when it seemed there was no possibility of Reich resuming his coaching career,” Pompei wrote.
“Luck later became general manager of Stanford’s football team, and last year Luck had asked Reich for a favor — he wanted him to serve as his interim head football coach for one season after an unexpected vacancy. Reich went along to help a friend,” Pompei explained.
It would have been pretty cool for the Jets to acquire a four-time Pro Bowl quarterback who was once the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 NFL draft this offseason.
However, that era of Colts football should serve as inspiration for the Jets.
When Reich took the Indianapolis head coaching job in 2018, he did so under the belief that Luck would be his quarterback for the next decade. It didn’t play out that way.
Luck played one season for Reich. The following August, he suddenly retired in the middle of the preseason, leaving Reich stranded. Despite those circumstances, Reich overcame them.
ESPN’s Rich Cimini noted that Reich had “a top-10 scoring offense in 3 of 5 seasons as Colts’ HC.” The majority of which he didn’t have the services of Luck.
Cimini revealed that Reich is “Accustomed to QB instability (5 different starting QBs in Indy).”
A few thoughts on the #Jets hiring of Frank Reich as OC:
Pros: Former HC with a lot of play-calling experience. Had a top-10 scoring offense in 3 of 5 seasons as Colts’ HC. Accustomed to QB instability (5 different starting QBs in Indy), which should prepare him for what he’s
If he could make chicken salad out of chicken, you know what, imagine what he can do with Geno Smith in 2026. The Jets haven’t had a top 10 offense in a long time. They have been stuck in the basement as a bottom-five offense for much of the last 15 years.
If Reich can get them anywhere close to an average offense, the fan base might build him a statue. Based on his history, that sounds like something he is more than capable of pulling off.
Paul Esden Jr. covers the New York Jets for Heavy.com. A New York native, he co-hosts a morning show, "The Manchild Show with Boy Green Digital." Before joining Heavy in 2021, Esden Jr. covered both national and New York sports for FanSided, Elite Sports NY, and The Score 1260. More about Paul Esden Jr.
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