Before acquiring Jared Veldheer the Arizona Cardinals rolled out mediocrity every season at the left tackle position
Just about every offseason the Arizona Cardinals refused to address it. “Refused” may be a strong word but nevertheless the team never seemed to enter a season with a strong left tackle.
Mediocre would be a perfect word to describe Arizona’s starting left tackles in the 2000’s. Names like L.J. Shelton, Oliver Ross, Reggie Wells, Mike Gandy, Levi Brown. No Pro Bowlers in that group.
Then came 2013 and the promotion of Steve Keim to General Manager. Maybe the fact that Keim was a former offensive lineman made it clear to him that the team needed a top left tackle in the worst way.
And then help arrived in a big way. Make that a HUGE way. Huge as in 6’8, 321 pound Jared Veldheer.
Veldheer was inexplicably permitted by the Oakland Raiders to walk out the door. Wasn’t even slapped with the franchise tag, which was readily available to use on the blindside protector entering his prime.
As the saying goes, “Another man’s trash is another man’s treasure “. Keim and the Cardinals couldn’t believe their luck. Free agency arrived and Veldheer’s number was the first one dialed, the two sides quickly agreed to a mega-deal.
It couldn’t have worked out better. Arizona got a rock, an anchor to protect QB Carson Palmer’s blind side. Veldheer has been everything the team had hoped he would be and more, so good that he was named the Cards’ MVP of the 2014 season.
Veldheer got to bolt a perennial loser for a team that achieved double-digit victories in each of his three seasons so far. He’s even been given a couple of Pro Bowlers to play with on the line, Mike Iupati last season and Evan Mathis for the upcoming year.
The importance of Veldheer to the team’s Super Bowl chances cannot be undervalued. Besides Palmer, he may the second most important acquisition of Keim’s tenure. He’s the best left tackle the team has landed since the mid 1990’s, when they signed seven time Pro Bowler Lomas Brown.
Veldheer is one of the original building blocks of the Keim/Bruce Arians era. His signing shored up one of the biggest problem areas on Arizona’s roster. Other important pieces have been brought in since his acquisition, all part of a plan to bring a championship to the desert.
It’s time for that plan to come to fruition. Make no mistake, the presence of Veldheer is a big reason it will.