The 2020 season brought with it more than enough quirks for a lifetime, but it looks like we’ll have at least one more going into the divisional round. There, veteran striker Jared Veldheer is about to accomplish something that has never been done in the league’s history: play for two different playoff teams in the same postseason.
After spending most of the regular 2020 season without a team, Veldheer signed with the Indianapolis Colts training team in late December. He was then summoned in time for Indy’s wild-card clash with the Buffalo Bills, a game the Colts ended up losing 27-24 on Saturday. Under normal circumstances, Veldheer’s 2020 season would come to an end in sync with Indianapolis. However, these are not normal times.
Since Veldheer was on the Colts’ training team and not on the active roster, and was simply elevated to the list of games through special NFL protocols to give teams flexibility during the COVID-19 pandemic, he returned to the training unit like this that the game is over. This adjustment to the rules for this season opened the door for the Green Bay Packers to sign him, which they did on Monday, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
If Veldheer were in the active squad, this would not have been possible, as these players remain under contract with their respective teams and cannot sign elsewhere – in most cases – until the free agency window opens with the new year of the call in the spring. The training team, however, released him to continue his search for the Super Bowl.
Veldheer’s arrival comes just nine days after the Packers player put David Bakhtiari on reserve due to injury. That hole along the offensive line could mean that the 33-year-old can get a significant amount of time playing for Green Bay when he faces the Los Angeles Rams in the divisional round. Against Bills last week, Veldheer played every snap for the Colts and was solid, earning passable Pro Football Focus grades.
The 6-foot-8, 321 pounds, was a draft choice for the Raiders’ third round in 2010 and has bounced around the league for the past decade, making stops with the Cardinals, Broncos, Patriots and, more recently, the Colts. He also spent some time in 2019 with the Packers, making this his second spell at the club. That year, he was just a reserve player and was prepared for two games.