Colts wideout T.Y. Hilton knows firsthand about the trickle-down effect of finding a franchise quarterback like Andrew Luck.
"Everybody wants to play with Andrew," Hilton said, per ESPN.com's Mike Wells. "He's a free-agent magnet."
Hilton pointed specifically to former 49ers running back Frank Gore, who left the Eagles at the free-agent altar in March to sign with Indy.
"I called T.Y. and said, 'Tell them I'm interested,' without even knowing if they were interested in me," Gore said. "I figured out they weren't happy with Trent (Richardson) during the season. I had watched from a distance as they continued to get better every year and they had one of the best quarterbacks in the league in Andrew, but I didn't know a whole lot about the organization."
Former Texans wideout Andre Johnson also gushed over Luck after signing with the Colts, calling the fourth-year passer "probably the best quarterback I've ever played with,"Â (probably?) and the primary reason he chose to finish his career in Indy.
"That was the big thing," Johnson said in March, per the team's official website. "I wanted to go somewhere with a stable quarterback. The thing about Andrew, he's going to be around for a while. He's a heck of a player. I think he's a very special player. I can't wait to get to work with him."
Johnson joins one of the deepest casts of wideouts league-wide, with Hilton, Donte Moncrief, Griff Whalen, the enigmatic Duron Carter and promising rookie Phillip Dorsett battling for snaps. Gore, meanwhile, fills a huge need after seeing just one player rush for 100-plus yards in a game during Luck's 48 regular-season starts. That stat should change come September.
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