Patriots lineman retires one week after signing contract

After nine seasons in the NFL, veteran offensive tackle Jared Veldheer is hanging up his cleats – just a week after signing a contract with the New England Patriots as a free agent. The Patriots announced Tuesday that Veldheer was placed on the reserve/retired list, after he participated in one day of organized team activities.

Veldheer was in line to receive a $750k signing bonus, and would have made more than $1 million if he stuck around for training camp. It is unclear whether Veldheer will keep his bonus, but he passed up a significant amount of money by retiring before training camp.

Not an easy financial decision for Veldheer to retire. He would’ve made $1.25m even if he were cut in training camp, $3.5m if he were a backup all season, and $6.5m if he won a starting job for most of the year.

— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) May 21, 2019

The financial aspect may not have been an important factor in Veldheer’s decision, given his tenure in the NFL. Veldheer signed a five-year deal with the Cardinals worth $37.5 million back in 2014, and he earned a base salary of $6.5 million last season with the Broncos.