“In my mind he is a Green Bay Packer — hopefully, he is going through a tough medical situation. I think we all recognize that it was a serious injury. My understanding is he is doing everything and beyond to get himself ready. We’ll continue to watch that.” – Mike McCarthy, SiriusXM Radio
Well that’s interesting. As most of you are quite aware, the Packers are a fairly conservative and tight lipped organization so Mike McCarthy actively wooing Jermichael Finley back might actually have some deeper meaning to it. Add to that the Packers have reportedly left Finley’s locker room open during the offseason (which is a big deal since the roster limit is at 90 and some players are already have their lockers in a adjacent room) and it is starting to look like the Packers are doing the full court press to keep Finley in the Green and Gold. But how much money would it take to keep Finley a Packer and how much would the Packers be willing to fork over? On one hand Finley has the potential to be one of the best tight ends in the league but on the other he’s been wildly inconsistent and now has to worry about a neck injury that left him paralyzed on the field and a cervical fusion surgery that has a iffy prognosis for playing football again? In the NFL, contracts are weighed by how they stack to other contracts at the position so its good to see what the tight end salary landscape. (contract values courtesy of Over the Cap).
Top 5 tight end average yearly salary – $7.604 million: Keep in mind this number is likely to skyrocket very soon because Jimmy Graham is currently the 5th highest paid tight end, but he’s on the tight end franchise tag at the moment and if arbitration rules in his favor this could rise to as much as $12.312 million; which is probably a moot point either way because the Saints are going to make him the highest paid tight end in the NFL at some point, eclipsing Rob Gronkowski’s $9 million dollar average. There’s essentially no way that Finley is going to get anywhere near this range, while he has the physical tools to match the production of Gronkowski or Graham, he’s never actually done it and his neck injury was serious enough that no team was willing to take their chances on him during the offseason so far. Players in this range are Rob Gronkowski, Jimmy Graham, Antonio Gates, Vernon Davis and Jason Witten; obviously Gronk, Graham and Davis are better tight ends and Witten and Gates have been consistent enough producers to warrant their high price tag.
5th-10th tight end average yearly salary – $6.659 million: Finley made $7 million last year which was good enough to become the 7th highest paid tight end by yearly average, so it’s conceivable he could earn the same amount as before. Personally I would highly doubt this, Finley got a 2 year contract in 2012 after showing glimpses of greatness but since then he’s produced some very good games, but none that would garner the same contract than what he got before. Add to that he’s two years older and now has to deal with a balky neck at best and one hit away from a career ending injury at worse and it’s likely he won’t be able to maneuver his way into this range. The only possible exception might be if his allows his guaranteed money to be waived if he re-injures his neck; in this way a team can protect their investment against the risk of a pre-existing injury and the player can get a higher salary and hope that the injury does not reoccur or get worse. Players in this range are Jared Cook, Mercedes Lewis, Dennis Pitta and Greg Olsen; I would personally argue that Finley is in the mix somewhere in this group when healthy.
10th-15th tight end average yearly salary – $4.654 million: If I were to guess what kind of contract Finley could command this offseason, this is the range I would pick. At this point, any team signing Finley would be balancing the risk of Finley re-injuring his neck or not being able to perform at the same level with the neck injury versus the reward of getting a potential top 10 tight end. At this price range I could see Finley being able to get some guaranteed money with injury protection; depending on how Finley feels about the injury, he may choose to take more guaranteed money over a higher total value. Tight ends in this range are Martellus Bennett, Brent Celek, Dustin Keller, Brandon Pettigrew and Heath Miller, I would argue that Finley is probably better than all these players but not by much in regards to Bennett.
15th-20th tight end average yearly salary – $3.400 million: The Packers or any other team for that matter would be getting a steal at this range. Chances are good if Finley is considering options at this range, the Packers may not be one of his choices because such a low offer likely means a lot of teams are afraid of his neck injury and don’t even want him on the team. The only situation I can see Finley taking a deal as low as this would be to mirror what Randy Moss did by basically playing on a discount for one year in order to get a better contract in the next; in Moss’ case it was because he had become radioactive in Oakland while Finley’s is due to his injury. Players in this range are Anthony Fasano, Garrett Graham, Zach Miller, Joel Dreessen and Jermain Gresham; Finley is definitely better than any of these players and paying him at the same level would definitely.
1-year veteran minimum deal – $810,000: One other possibility for Finley is to take a “redshirt” year, essentially giving up the chance to make a large amount of cash in order to fully heal up and try for next year. In this situation, the Packers would sign Finley and immediately place him on the PUP list and keep him there for the remainder of the season, which would allow them to carry Finley on the roster without keeping him on the 53 man active roster. The benefit to Finley would be that if every team has been scared off by his neck but he feels he can return to good enough health after another year of rehabilitation then he can have access to team facilities and trainers as well as make a little something to tide him over until the next season. While the Packers are at risk of paying for Finley’s recovery only to see him bolt to a different team next year, the Packers do have exclusive negotiation rights during the season and they could resign him to a more normal contract mid-season, which they have done for a lot of players. While essentially the Packers would be taking on $810,000 of dead money, the Packers salary cap is definitely healthy enough to take the hit and plenty of teams like the 49ers and Seahawks are “redshirting” players in a similar manner like Marcus Lattimore.
Obviously what type of money Finley ultimately depends on what he and teams think of his neck injury; if the neck injury is no issue I could see Finley making anywhere up to $6.6 million, especially if a bidding war starts for his services. I’d highly doubt that the Packers would be a player should his services be that high in demand, presumably the Packers know the most about his injury than any other team and if they haven’t made any formal attempt to sign him at this point probably means his recovery isn’t 100% certain. I personally think a 1-year veteran minimum deal is the most efficient way to find out if Finley can still play, he will be under constant surveillance by both team trainers and doctors, which is probably better than taking a year off and working out at a 3rd party training facility. I’d guess the most likely scenario is that Finley will get something close to $4-5 million yearly and at this point the Packer’s are likely the front runners at this range. They’ve already made their pitch to keep him with Mike McCarthy’s comments and his locker still waiting for him, likely because they know their offer is going to be on the low end (which it should be).
——————
Thomas Hobbes is a staff writer for Jersey Al’s AllGreenBayPackers.com.
——————
A “wildly inconsistent” Finley is a much better option than Quarless, Bostick and the other Rodgers from Cal. Injury a concern for any team signing him obviously. If he’s cleared, and that’s a big if, who’s interested and to what degree? In the words of Michael Corleone, if history has taught us anything, Ted will low ball him. If Seattle is indeed interested, Schneider will find a way and that would not be good for the Packers or NFC in general. It would behoove Finley and his agent to find a way to keep him in GB. Assuming he stays healthy, he knows the offense, has the best qb throwing to him and he’s auditioning for a ’15 contract. Middle of the pack 4-5 million, with some sort of injury protection would make a lot of sense for a lot of reasons. Adds a dimension back to the offense that will affect how teams game plan..gives AR one of his toys back. Hope it happens…worth a shot!
Worth a shot? I feel like we’ve been saying that for like three years now.
Even if he stops running his big mouth, overcomes his injuries, and actually performs like he was last year, he wants way more $$$ than he’s worth.
Enough is enough. We’re still a top 5 offense without him.
Yup, we won a SB w/o him. The guy is all hype. Time to move on. Bostick and Lyerla are good looking prospects. Q not so much. I have strong doubts about Rodgers the reach but we shall see. The Packers are spreading the word not to expect much from Rodgers until year 3. That’s pretty low expectations for a R3 player who is not very athletic. Jerk-Mike was expected to take 3 years to develop but had athletic skills that made the potential payoff worth waiting for. Rodgers looks like he will be ordinary at best. Strange player to make such an investment in. But like I said, nobody can criticize any draft pick until time passes and the guy doesn’t become the guy.
DR’s will know if Finley is healthy. If he is, some team will pay him. Three year minimum will cost us $20 million minimum. He will want a longer deal with his age.
I like Finley but with the new receivers, let him walk. Too risky.
I’d say that doctors don’t know whether or not he’s healthy or not, if they he was, the Packers appear ready to try to sign him, if he wasn’t McCarthy wouldn’t be making his comments. The likely situation is that Finley maybe healthy enough to return to the game, maybe not hence why they are waiting to see how his recovery goes. I also highly doubt anyone is willing to pay him $20 million at this point, he was never a top 5 tight end when healthy and now with the neck injury he will have to take less.
He was paid 8.25 million last year. Remember the Texans gave Ahman Green $28 million and they got about 300 yards for it. If he is released to play, he will sign a big contract. It isn’t costing the Packers a nickel to keep his locker open. That is just using good sense.
I think the risk of signing Green back then was a lot lower than signing Finley now. Green was a lot older (31) but Finley is dealing with a potentially career ending injury. It says a lot that a proven star like Nick Collins wasn’t able to find a single suitor even likely at a discount price.
The physicians/Dr’s won’t release him if he is at a much greater risk of a life altering injury. That’s a large part of being cleared to play again.
If there is a greater risk the Dr’s won’t clear him to play again. Its pretty much as simple as that, arguing otherwise isn’t helping your case.
They are similar issues – spinal fusion. They are in different locations. Collins was much closer to the brain. His mobility and range of motion, as well as likelihood to reinjure it are greater than say Peyton Manning’s or Sean Richardson’s.
Isn’t McCarthy the same guy that wanted Jeff Saturday so much and passed on Aaron Rodgers in the draft? I don’t think this guy McCarthy has any scouting ability i.e., it is same as his ability to speak English, call plays or formulate a winning game strategy. When was the last time this team won a game it was supposed to? Exactly.
Which reminds me. Julius Peppers could be the next Jeff Saturday. McCarthy reviewed tape on him and felt he was the same player he was coming out of college. Did anybody see him play last year? He was awful. I don’t think MM knows sh*t from shinola.
Isn’t Mike McCarthy supposed to win every game? In that regard he’s done pretty well by all accounts.
The Packers loaded up on TEs for a couple of reasons. They will not be taking a another roll with Finley’s ‘potential’. In my opinion, he has never lived up to the contracts that he’s had to date. The injury will make Finley’s play that much more tentative and he was never that good in traffic. Beyond his play, the Packers have loaded up with TE’s and that tells you where the organization is pointed.
He’s made his money, he now needs to make a smart move and shut his mouth and stay healthy.
The Packers chose between Greg Jennings and Finley and made the wrong choice. Time to kick him to the curb and move on.
Jennings is the one who left. He was offered good money by the Pack. He proved to be an average receiver without Rodgers.
Jennings came up a year prior to Finley. I don’t see those two as being related. By extension, then, letting Finley go means that they’re choosing now between Finley and Cobb/Nelson. Who would you take?
Cobb/Nelson, naturally.
They were very much related. Jennings was in negotiations for an extension in ’12 w/ the Packers and after he turned down the extension the Packers had on the table, the Packers signed Finley.
If Jennings had accepted the extension in ’12 the Packers wouldn’t have signed Finley to his 2 yr contract. It was going to be one or the other, they couldn’t have afforded Finley’s 8M average for 2 yrs and the 11M offer Jennings declined from the Packers.
Nice revisionist history. Too bad your WRONG! Jennings had an offer on the table the whole time from the Packers. He CHOSE to sign w/ the viqueens!
I wouldn’t be so quick to discount it; all we heard from the media was that Jennings had a offer on the table, this could have been “leaked” by someone within to Packers organization to make it appear as if they wanted to keep Jennings. Also keep in mind the reported annual salary may be misleading as well; the guaranteed money could be very low or have lots of incentives or a heavy backend contract structure that Jennings was unlikely to fulfill. There’s plenty of legitimate reasons why Jennings might not like what the Packers offered.
Jennings turned down the Packers 8M offer to sign w the viqueens. Its well documented… just Google jennings contract and you can read to your hearts desire all you care.
My argument is that this $8 million dollar offer was never officially announced by either the Packers nor Jennings nor anyone in the NFL officially, so it can’t be simply stated as fact. Also as Donovan McNabb proved during his time with the Redskins, there’s a lot more to a contract than total or yearly amount.
You didn’t google it did you. The NFL doesn’t announce any thing about negotiations the team/players agents do that. Your arguing for the sake of arguing!
“Sources familiar with negotiations said Jennings had an offer averaging about $8 million from the Packers before he took a five-year contract from the Minnesota Vikings that averaged about $9 million. He received a $10 million signing bonus and guarantees worth $18 million.” -JSOnline
“Sources familiar” could be anyone. Obviously it’s not official statement from either the team nor the player’s representatives, so it definitely could be from an NFL employee. It could be someone from Jenning’s camp or it could be someone from the Packer’s. Or it could be just a huge lie, just like all the stuff that comes out during the draft.
Stroh didn’t the Packers offer Jennings more money than the Queens?
That’s another way of looking at it.
Top me he’s long on hype and short on production. Always has been, always will be. Any time or money spent on him is wasted. Pack needs to find their TEs of the future. Maybe its Bostick and Lyerla, maybe the gut is not on the team yet. It was a shame they lost Troy Nicklas to AZ by one pick. Would have been so much better than the kid they reached for one round later. So much for TT’s bullcrap about BPA.
That is assuming that you have the tools to determine BPA. Sounds like BPA must be determined by media coverage.
You complain about Rodgers being not a BPA pick, but do you think the same of Clinton-Dix? I think he was by far the best player for the Packers at 21.
I think we all know Finley expects top 5 money. If he and his agent were thinking, they’d take a “prove it” deal. The reality is that the $7 mil a year he wants isn’t coming from GB, and some team will pay it.
I think Finley can expect top 5 money, but when it doesn’t come he’s going to have to reassess. I don’t think any team is going to shell out that kind of money, especially after the injury. Add to that his well known issues with an established, proven star quarterbacks and you have to wonder which other teams have locker rooms and quarterbacks stable enough to handle him. I’d be willing to bet he’d throw a rookie quarterback under the bus in a heart beat if he’s griping about one of the best quarterbacks not giving him the ball enough. You basically need a star quarterback to keep Finley’s mouth shut so you are talking about Manning (Julius Thomas), Brees (Graham) and Brady (Gronk).
You make him sound like another TO. I agree except nowhere as much talent.
I think there are a lot of NFL players who overvalue themselves. Some get lucky and find a team willing to pay them what they think they deserve, but a lot probably find a cold market. TO is just one of the more well known members of this group since he was so vocal about it.
My gut feeling is that he will not return to football. IF he does, he will have alligator arms and will be hearing foot steps constantly. At this point he just wants a payday. He always has been more talk than action. Time to put the business cap on TT and cut him loose.
TT can’t cut him loose because Finley’s not on the team and doesn’t cost the Packers anything at this moment.
Well said Big T
Bulls-eye!
I expect that many otherr tightends could produce as well as Finley in the packers system. He has been a pain. Did not live up to either his potential or to his bravado.
I actually believe that Quarless could produce similiarly with an equal number of targets. I also an interested to see what this years rookies are capable of.
This actually is a pretty difficult question to answer because Quarless and Finley have been on the field together surprising few times. Finley has missed games due to various injuries and missed a significant chunk of last season with the neck injury. Quarless on the other hand lost an entire year due to blowing out his knee and add to that losing Rodgers half way through last season complicates matters further.
Really good article Thomas. A thorough analysis of where Finley fits and the Packer alternatives.
I think the reality of the situation is that the injury allows MM and TT the time to see what they’ve got in the TE’s on the roster without having to pony up any cash.
If we’re STILL talking about JMike, then I’m not terribly encouraged by what we have on the roster. I am not the only one that doesn’t understand the appeal of Rodgers the TE.
I think the big problem with Rodgers is two fold 1) he doesn’t have much of a highlight reel since due to a coaching change and basically going from a Y tight end under Tedford to a F tight end under Dykes. 2)His draft stock according to the media was rather low, somewhere in the 5th round or below, which gets fans angry (which is odd considering how accurate even the best mock drafts are). I will say the last time the Packers drafted a tight end in the 3rd round with not a lot of tape, meh combine/pro days numbers and who many thought would go lower was Finley himself.
I am not a TT basher by any stretch. I just get the feeling he tries to be too cute and “outsmart” the other GM’s. Rodgers has the feel of one of those. I do hope I’m wrong and that Rodgers the TE is a stud. We need one!
Isn’t that his job? Isn’t his job to be a smarter and better GM than all the other GMs? I’d say Thompson drafted this year pretty rationally, even by from a fans perspective. Clinton-Dix makes sense and so does Adams.
I expect good things from Rodgers. The more we learn about Thornton the better that pick looks. The same will likely be true with Rodgers. He wasn’t a media darling, so alot of guys assume he is not as good.
The “Sausage King Of Chicago” aren’t you a Bears fan?
nope
That’s not correct. Finley was drafted exactly where the scouts predicted.
I think most media outlets had him lower after a really poor combine/pro day showing. I have no idea if scouts had him rated higher.
He has a very good insurance policy that will pay him 10 mil not to play. His family,especially his kids do not want him to play.
Perhaps, but word coming out of Finley’s camp is that he wants to play, or else why keep telling everyone your doctor’s think your recovery is going great and such?
Timing is everything! According to Ty Dunne of the Journal Sentinel, Finley is reportedly meeting with the Packers today for an evaluation: http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/260867211.html
Apparently, he’s just visiting team doctors because he was around (I didn’t know they did that). Hopefully the picture becomes a little clearer, but who knows.
People love to hate on Finley but if anyone was actually watching last year before his injury, he was playing his best football, his blocking was even better, his run after the catch was much better, and he still is a red zone nightmare for other teams to try and deal with. This team is much better on offense with him in the lineup to help balance the field. Hope he is okay and can resume his play in GB.
This was also a contract year for him. Should we discard the previous five years of total inconsistency, injuries, and his ego? Or the fact that he wants 8 million a year?
No thanks. We’re still a damn good offense without him.
” On one hand Finley has the potential to be one of the best tight ends in the league”….
When a review is done of his time since drafted in 08′,this is nothing more than an excuse to raise sympathy for retaining him in Green Bay.
Whatever ‘potential’ he had to be the best or one of the best,was gone before the injury last season..accept it and make this return talk moot.
I’m with Taryn on this one.
On Finley being wildly inconsistent … This was not true during 2013. Finley caught pretty much everything close to him and got a lot of tough yards after the catch. He was heading for a great season.
I would love to see him back in GB. But, this decision will be based on his medical condition. Every team in the NFL knows he can play.
I’d say he’s gotten better from a physical standpoint, but even then historically he’s been inconsistent. Also the other issue where’s he’s inconsistent in mentally. I’m not saying he’s crazy or anything, but some of his quotes sound like they are coming from a different person.
Old history. When he’s been healthy the past few years he’s been very productive. The year he had the drops was like 3 yrs ago. Let it go already! Your making yourself look bad arguing to this extent.
I like how you have to end all your arguments with some statement claiming I’m making myself look bad.
His Statements about his son, not wanting him to play anymore, after his first concussion, now seem very much made for public sympathy. He put up a family first front only to start up his crowing again after his neck injury. If family is first and your son is scared, and if it matters to you, you approach a comeback more soberly.
If you are a team player, you don’t go on air and say you would rather play for the Seahawks.
I see him as a bigger potential locker room cancer, than a young guy like Colt. Finley has already shown that his ego is first.
Take all those statements about his family and compare them now to all the statements that he’s making about the health of his neck. He obviously wants to play now.
I think GB is leaning towards having him come back, McCarthy doesn’t usually say things like he said the other week about specific players. You all that want GB to move on, you really would rather see Finley in Seattle the next few years?Even if one of the young guys is a long term answer at TE production, that likely will come in 2 or 3 years, it would be wise to sign Finley and let these guys develop behind him in my opinion. GB showed what they feel Quarless is as a player by the contract he got, a backup/spot starter at best.
The last time I can recall any Packer really selling the idea of a player staying in Green Bay was with Aaron Rodgers’ quote with James Jones (which supposedly started all the griping from Greg Jennings). And lo and behold, Jones signed a very team friendly deal to stay with the Packers.
contracts are based upon what you’ve accomplished to date – not what you expect the player to accomplish. Quarless could very well be a stud. His rookie year we won the super bowl with him as the starter. Perhaps we’ll find out what he’s capable of.
Arguably the Packers won a super bowl with Daryn Colledge at guard, so just because you were on the team doesn’t always make you the reason for winning the Super Bowl. Also contracts are always based on what the team thinks you are going to do. If it were purely on what you’ve accomplished to date, then TO would still be in the NFL.
Would love to have Finley back even for 1 year at lowball price but Finley signing with another team at high price means a good draft choice for Packers next year.
Even before Finley’s serious injury last season he usually spent a part of every season on the DL. He could be cleared for his neck injury, return and be hurt again. plus he has been inconsistent even when he’s healthy. Yes, he represents a threat when he is in there but another TE can be effective with Rodgers at QB. Finley’s situation has unfortunately made him the opposite of Verla. Finley has become high risk for limited/inconsistent return versus Verla who is low/no risk for possible high return/reward. If Finley is cleared, which I doubt, I woud offer him 2 years in the $3.5 to $4.5 million range with incentives to earn more. But my true feelings on this is that it’s time for the Packers to move on and see what we have in Quarless, Bostick, Rodgers from Cal and Verla. Go Pack! Thanks, Since ’61
Who is Verla?
Sorry Razer, should be Lyerla. Typos by me. Trying to type at airport, between flights with no sleep. Go Pack! Thanks, Since ’61
Are we talking baseball or do you mean Finley plays on the defensive line? Do you also mean Lyerla?
Since ’61, you are a realist. Finley has not been cleared, so all the speculation about resigning him is a moot point. Let’s move on…Enough of the drama…let’s save that for going to the movies…
There’s no doubt that Finley makes the Packers offense way more scary to defend. He CAN run the seam and gash people. He CAN bowl over secondary defenders. He CAN gut out those last tough two yards to get a 1st down on 3rd and 5. And even if you throw all that out, he certainly keeps the FS/ILB from the opposing defenses more honest, thus opening up our stud WR’s to do more damage 1 on 1.
He is a MUCH better TE than anyone else on the roster. I’m not excited about Quarless and the other dudes need more time.
Because we have room under the cap for THIS year (and maybe only this year) I am all for Finley coming back on a team friendly deal IF (and only if) there is NO more risk of paralysis to him than any other player on the field.
There are some things more important that football.
I agree, and obviously the Packers feel the same way or they wouldn’t be asking their doctors to check up on him. I’d have no problem with this, I’m not sure how much money the Packers were willing to offer Finley had he not had the injury and I’m not sure it would have been a long term deal like he wanted either.
Bearmeat…Too many ifs…Let’s focus on who we have that are competing and wish JM the best of fortune in recuperating…
Yeah, IF Finley played to his “potential”, he could’ve been in the class of a Graham, Gronk or Gonzalez but he hasn’t. IF he gets cleared, there’s no guarantee he will play even to level of last year. For all of his “potential”, we’ve seen him drop TD passes right there in the hands with no defenders getting hands on ball, like he hears “footsteps” and loses concentration. Put a player back on the field after such a serious life altering injury as he had, you don’t think he’ll be hearing footsteps now in STEREO? Finley’s an underachiever, he’ll be KING of underachiever’s now IF he’s hearing THAT impact that caused injury in his head everytime an opponent zeroes in for a hard hit.
JMike is a very good weapon, and while I understand he hasn’t met the high expectations, keeping him is rolling weighted dice; chances are that his next year will be a breakout, more than chances of next year being a bust (if medically cleared). I think most would agree he still has upside, and hasn’t yet overachieved. So roll the dice if his medically cleared…with a low ball plus incentives.
I think him busting (outside of a medical issue) is relatively low only because Rodgers is throwing him the ball. As we’ve seen with Jennings, having a QB that can get you the ball and in position to make a play is very important.
Finley will receive 10M (tax free), from the insurance policy he signed, to not play again due to his injury. If Finley is all about the money, he will be seeking a deal that will guarantee him more than the tax free 10M, which will be somewhere around 16M gross. I don’t see the Packers paying that.
what intrigues me about Finley is that his desire to play football is very strong. He must love the game, or maybe he just loves the attention. To take the safe road and protect yourself from further spinal injury and collect 10million tax free seems like a no brainer. So Finley must think he can receive top dollar to play.
I also thought Finley was playing great last year. But I just don’t see him playing for the Packers again. TT will not over pay
There’s no way any team signs him to a contract with more than $10 million guaranteed, Jared Cook currently has the highest guaranteed money per year at 3.2 million, and Cook didn’t have a neck issue. Finley would like need to get a 4-5 year contract to get close to $10 million and I don’t see any team doing that.
On the flip side, I think Finley does want to play, if not why see the Packers doctors today or keep telling the media about how great your recovery has been?
GBPDan…insurance companies do not like to pay big settlements if they don’t have to…My take is that Finley is acting like he wants to play, knowing it is doubtful he will ever be cleared. I believe he is done playing football and he knows it. Both Lyerla and Rodgers may eclipse what Finley has done in the next few years…am tired of the ‘potential’tag…About a dozen TEs superior to him in the past few years…
The insurance policy probably has a provision that requires Finley to make every effort to play — they won’t pay out if he voluntarily retires due to injury.
It won’t due for Finley to turn down even a minimal contract — he probably needs the team drs for multiple teams to say he is “not cleared to play” before collecting the $10 million.
Keep that in mind when you are thinking through the *public statements* made by Finley and everyone else involved in this.
That seems a little odd to me, if his insurance policy stipulated that he makes an attempt to play, couldn’t he just say both the Packers and Seahawks failed him on a medical and call it that? There wouldn’t be a reason to get all these second opinions and what not.
How many ‘can’t play’ opinions does the policy require him to obtain? *When* did the team drs say he can’t play any more (injury recovery is a process)? Did his injury actually cause a signed contract offer to be voided?
If I were the insurance company, that last one is what I would write into the contract — anything else just means teams didn’t want to sign him, for any number of reasons.
Chances are good the Seahawks and Packers have failed him on his physical; the Seahawks has just been reported, but it’s almost certain the Packers did or else they wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place. Also, I doubt Finley would sign an insurance policy with such a big loop hole that it requires him to have a contract voided, he was going to be a free agent one way or another. You have to think that Finley has appeared to have made every effort to get back into the NFL and that hasn’t happened yet.
This is what confuses me about the whole Finley issue, Thomas. I too do not see Finley making more guaranteed money (anytime soon) than he would receive with the insurance settlement. Either he’s having a hard time excepting the fact that his career maybe finished, or he just loves the game and the money doesn’t mean as much as we think it does to him. Or, he thinks some team will offer big money, but, I don’t see it happening
GBPDan, what does the insurance policy *require* to happen before it pays out? Would he get the $10 million if he does not make “every effort to play,” even at a minimal contract?
So i checked up on this and Finley says the $10 million insurance policy is equivalent to $16 million pre-tax (I presume he is using Wisconsin state tax as his reference). I don’t think I could see Finley getting that much on a 1-2 year deal, which is where I think he’ll likely get. He’d probably need a 3-4 year deal to get that much money, which I don’t think is very realistic.
Let me put Jermichael Finley in perspective: he CLEARLY just wants to get as much $$$ as he can from GB. It’s A.J. Hawk as a T.E. Only much worse.
How do I know this? Well for one, he said it (unfortunately, I can not find the link), and he has stated that he will NOT take a pay-cut from the 8 million this year. And two, he lost weight because he wants to play as a WR. WR’s make more money than TE’s. Do the math.
He’s a diva. The biggest diva’s in the game’s history were also some of the biggest players in the game’s history. In other words, they were able to get away with it for the sole reason they had talent that teams were willing to risk with.
Finley doesn’t run his mouth as much as T.O. for the lone reason that he knows he won’t get picked up by anyone if he does. But he sure says about as much as he can get away with.
Furthermore, he went straight to Seattle as soon as FA started. Seattle would let him run his big mouth, which IMO says a lot about his character. But this ALSO shows just how loyal he is to Green Bay, which clearly isn’t as much as he portrays.
Injury proned, unloyal, big mouth, greedy, cry baby millionaire!!! FORGET HIM ALREADY!!! I have had enough of Finley!!!
A player stating that he wants to make as money as possible should not be surprising, it’s their job and they know they aren’t going to be working for very long in the NFL so they have to maximize their earnings while they can; I wouldn’t fault Finley over saying this nor would I fault any other player for saying this. If he feels like he can make more money in Seattle, then let Seattle pay him, I have no problem with this either. Player loyalty to the team is a pretty odd concept to me, it’s not like any player really takes a “hometown discount”, rather they are exchanging money for stability, whether it be in the playbook, the roster or their living arrangement. There are some exceptions of course, Donald Driver had maybe the closest thing I can think of to team loyalty and he still made all those crazy comments about how Rodgers wasn’t taking responsibility for other people’s mistakes. I’ve always felt Driver knows that he can make more money by being popular in Green Bay.
It’d be interesting to know what AROD really thinks about Finley returning to the Pack if he’s healthy. I don’t remember seeing any comments yet from Rodgers which speaks volumes. When he does comment I expect it will be PC rather than full throated endorsement. Finley is obnoxious for sure but he has had more than ample opportunity to fulfill his potential in GB and though he is above average when on the field, he is NOT a difference-maker. Packer offense has fared better w/o him than with him in the past. Time to move on to somebody whose deeds speak louder than their words.
Rodgers is far too smart to say anything that would actually tip anyone off on his opinion of Finley.
The average Jermichael Finley season:
12 games, 48 receptions, 548 yards, 4 TDs.
Balance that against the risk of watching him reinjure his surgically repaired neck and suffocate on the field as his paralyzed lungs can’t work.
Too much risk for such a small upside. I can’t imagine Thompson is going to take this risk and I’d be surprised if anybody else would either.
I think Thompson can resign him with a clear conscience, based on how medically conservative the Packers are, I doubt Thompson would overrule team doctors if they say Finley can’t play.
I don’t know why every one is Raging on the Packers third round pick Rodgers. I have a feeling he is going to be a very good tight end. He is going to be be plenty big for blocking and be very good catching the ball.
The reason why everyone is up in arms about Richard Rodgers is because no one knew of him before the draft and he doesn’t have much of a highlight reel and secondly many media outlets projected him as a way lower pick. I think there were a ton of people in the same boat when Clay Matthews was picked, who was relatively unknown after getting buried on the depth chart and was projected to be a 2nd-3rd round pick.
Actually, cbssports gave a higher grade to Matthews (6.66) than to Raji (6.5) and projected Matthews as a 1st round pick (mid 1st to early 2nd) and Raji going between pick 5 and 12 in the first round. Raji got low grades for work ethic and character, with the B.C. coaching staff describing Raji as the laziest player on the team. TT moved up from #41 to #26 because CM wasn’t going to last much longer.