Nick Vannett shares what life is like as a practice squad player in the NFL

We interrupt your ongoing angst about J.J. McCarthy’s inability to hit the broad side of a barn to bring you a more uplifting tale from the opposite end of the Vikings’ personnel food chain …

Meet Nick Vannett.

Who?

Nick Vannett. A 6-6, 261-pound tight end nicknamed “Baby Gronk” coming out of Ohio State in 2016, the year he was drafted by Seattle in the third round.

Vannett never became the next Rob Gronkowski and never will, but he still loves football as much as the future Hall of Famer, anybody in the Vikings’ locker room and probably more than most of his NFL peers considering he’s now 32 years old toiling on a practice squad with an eighth team in 10 seasons.

“It’s not easy,” he said, “but I still think I belong out on that field on Sundays, and that keeps me going.”

Funny.

Vannett had been elevated for the Lions game the Sunday before.

Getting his first start in his fourth game as a Viking and 54th start for an eighth different NFL team, Vannett stepped in for the injured Oliver, played 32 offensive snaps and made a number of bruising blocks that had people reaching for rosters to ask, “Who the heck is No. 81?” as the Vikings mauled the favored and physical Lions in an upset at Ford Field.

“I was going to be elevated again for the Ravens game,” Vannett said.

But …

“I fractured my big [right] toe in practice the Thursday before,” Vannett said. “I tried to practice the next day. I wanted to. But they said I shouldn’t.”

The difference between a weekly practice squad paycheck and the one that comes with an elevation isn’t an insignificant one.

“It’s about 50 grand more,” Vannett said. “So, yeah, that’s a big deal, too.”

Especially for a young father of a growing family.

Nick, his wife, Erza, and their son, Theo, welcomed a daughter and little sister, Elora, seven months ago. That was last spring, back when the family was in their home in Irvine, Calif., and Nick was looking for yet another NFL city to relocate to.

The Vannetts spent 2016-19 in Seattle, part of 2019 in Pittsburgh, 2020 in Denver, 2021-22 in New Orleans, part of 2022 with the Giants, 2023 with the Chargers, 2024 in Tennessee and the past three months bouncing between the Vikings’ active roster and their practice squad.

Being an NFL journeyman isn’t easy.

“Honestly, it’s tougher on the wives, but [Erza] handles it very well,” Vannett said. “She’s been with me every step of the way and has been very supportive, very positive through all this uncertainty, all this instability. I feel like spouses don’t get enough credit for what they go through.”

Such as?

“I was in Seattle in 2019, and I get traded to Pittsburgh,” Vannett said. “I had to fly out that night. Now, she had movers, obviously, but she had to stay behind and facilitate a move. She’s done a lot of that stuff all over the country. You don’t make plans. Anything could happen and you have to react to them.”

It was Nov. 12 when Vannett was talking about all this. He had broken his toe less than a week earlier. And yet he was in full pads in the locker room, having just finished practicing.

He has to if he wants to stick around.

“That’s the NFL,” Oliver said. “You see guys like Nick and you get why he’s still around. He’s a true pro.

“I got to know Nick this offseason because we’re both living in SoCal and we were working out some together. He can play. You saw those blocks in Detroit.”

Oliver returned for the Bears game, which closes for now any foreseeable opportunity for Vannett to be elevated. He can be elevated from the practice squad two more times this season. Or another team could look at the Lions game and sign him to its active roster, setting in motion another scramble for Erza to pack up yet another rented house she has turned into a home.

“My agent hasn’t gotten any serious calls since I broke my toe,” Vannett said. “But I also like it here. I felt great in the Detroit game, doing what I’ve done before, being a physical presence in the run game.