Jared Veldheer had yet to sign on with a new team this offseason and had already decided to retire, but if the free-agent offensive lineman were to sign on with a new team he would not be available to play until late October, anyway.
The NFL has suspended Veldheer for the first six games of the 2021 season, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported. Pelissero added Veldheer had already planned to retire and that the offensive lineman said a prescription is what led to his suspension.
In a statement obtained by Pelissero, Veldheer said he was prescribed "low-dose Clomid due to abnormally low" testosterone and that, "I also plan to retire at this time from the NFL."
Clomid is also known as clomiphene citrate.
Veldheer finished the 2020 campaign with the Packers, who signed him off the Colts' practice squad in January ahead of an NFC Divisional Round matchup with the Rams. He did not play for Green Bay after being placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list a day after joining the team. One week earlier, he started for Indianapolis in its AFC Wild Card Round loss to the Bills.
After starting more than 100 games between stints with the Raiders, Cardinals and Broncos, the 33-year-old Veldheer has appeared in just three regular-season games the past two seasons amid a pair of retirement announcements -- and now a third.
