Green Bay Packers: 5 Free Agent Additions That Still Make Sense

Jared Veldheer OT

Bryan Bulaga has caught plenty of flack from Green Bay Packers’ fans during his tenure in Titletown for his injury history, but what often was overlooked was the stability that he brought to the tackle position for nearly a decade.

However, now that he is in Los Angeles with the Chargers, the Packers don’t have that luxury this season.

In Bulaga’s place will be free-agent signee Rick Wagner who has also battled injuries over his career but he certainly doesn’t have the same ability that Bulaga does. Not to mention that Wagner is coming off a down 2019 season as well.

Then behind Wagner on the depth chart is a lot of inexperience. Billy Turner has played some tackle, but do we want him out on the edge working in space? Lane Taylor played a little left tackle in 2017 and held up fairly well, but that was back in 2017. Meanwhile, at this point, we know what Alex Light can do, and after him are several players with no NFL experience at the position.

So if anything, the addition of Jared Veldheer can at the very least provide some veteran competition for Wagner this summer, but after his performance over that few game stretch in 2019, I also think he could push Wagner for starting reps. And if anything, as we’ve already seen, he’s a great backup option to have on the sidelines for when an injury or poor play occurs.

During his 58 pass-blocking attempts in 2019, Veldheer didn’t allow a single sack or quarterback hit and he wasn’t called for a penalty either. Although over a full 16 game season he would likely be exposed much more than he was in this small sample size, for the reasons mentioned already, I’m hard-pressed to find a reason that the Packers shouldn’t re-sign him.