Jared Veldheer’s personal day was to contemplate retirement

The Arizona Cardinals have been putting together their offensive line since they arrived in 1988. It hasn’t been easy, it hasn’t been fun, and it hasn’t happened yet.

However, since Steve Keim has taken over as the GM, he has worked tirelessly to make the Arizona Cardinals offensive line a strength.

One of the most important pieces was the 2014 free agency signing of Jared Veldheer for five years $35 million with $17 million guaranteed.

He’s signed through the 2018 season and is making a move to the right side of the offensive line for the first time in his career.

A couple of days ago he mysteriously missed practice with what was identified as a personal day off:

Now, the reason for that personal day off is known, as Jared Veldheer was taking a day off to ponder his retirement according to Bob McManaman:

“It was culmination of things, kind of missing the last half of the season last year and just kind of rehabbing,” he said, referring to what he had to do to come back from a torn triceps injury that ended his 2016 season. “You start thinking when you have a lot of time on your plate. You start thinking huge-picture life stuff, you know? You normally don’t necessarily think you’re going to die.

“So you’re just trying to figure everything out. Stuff just all kind of happened and compounded and I just kind of needed a second to regroup and reflect.”

The Arizona Cardinals absolutely dodged a bullet, as Veldheer is a key cog in the 2016 Arizona Cardinals offensive line for this year.

Veldheer is coming back off another triceps tear, he’s being asked to play a position he has never played before and he’s made nearly $26 million in his career.

This is a huge win for the Cardinals, but it also means we need to keep an eye on Veldheer.

The biggest question is... Is he all in with the Cardinals in 2017?