Jermichael Finley

It will probably take alot of money and and a long term deal to resign Finley. With the possibility of Flynn or Finley being franchised, this adds an uncertain element when it comes to signing Finley. Hes young, he has not reached his potential, he is still a big threat in the offense, his hands are suspect, he has loose lips and sometimes irritates Aaron Rodgers because of his undisciplined approach.

Do you think the Packers should sign Jermichael Finley to a big, long term deal? Why or why not?   

I say No! He runs his mouth alot , but doesn't back it up with his play. He drops about half
the passes thrown to him. I'll tell him now SEE YA'

Yes and here is why.

Last year when we won the super bowl our Defense won us that championship for the most part. Offense was good but not anywhere near what it was this season.

 

One main reason was that Jermichael Finley was on the field the entire time, which gives jordy and Greg and jones and cobb WAY more one on one match ups.

Finey makes the offense alot more dangerous just by him being on the field.  

it wont take as much as you think. He had a season ending injury last year and a mediocre year this year. He will probably get a dead close to James Jones or a little less then Jordy Nelson.

 

my 2 cents

I say sign him and then trade him for a better tight end. I rather we get someone who will be paid cheaper and still give us good production. Scott Chandler or David Nelson from the Buffalo Bills would do. I'd tell Buffalo give us your 2nd and 3rd round picks and one of your tight ends, you guys can have Jermichael Finley. Green Bay doesn't need a super tight end to make things happen in the offense, and even if we did Finley isn't that super tight end. When Jermichael Finley breaks 800+ receiving yards and 12-15 TD's then we can talk about giving him big time $.


Or I would talk about trading JerMichael Finley for a starting RB. Maybe Steven Jackson, Peyton Hillis, Michael Bush, all those guys are looking for a new team and we could certainly use some of their tough running.  

Lets not forget that he was coming off of a season ending knee injury. I would look for him to be much better next season. He also didn't show a tendecy to drop balls previous to this year, so that should get better next year as well. I say franchise him then work out something like a 4 or 5 year $35M deal with incentives. I would prefer signing him, then franchising Matt Flynn however. Then see what we can get for Flynn.

Absolutely ..the Packers should sign Finley to a long term deal. He's an integral part to this offense. Not only does he create mismatches..but he opens the field for the other receivers.

Finley should at least be back in 2012, but he irritated me in a recent interview alluding to a hold out if he gets franchised. He also called the Packers cheap. I've been one of Finley's biggest supporters on here but I get the feeling he's searching for a mega-deal and he hasn't earned it yet. If he really does want this kind of money then it won't hurt to bring him back on a one-year deal. IMO Finley won't sign for a "discount".

Finley is an important piece and I think he's going to get better, but I'd only take him on a long-term deal if its in the $4.5/6 MM a year range at most.

Dude got manhandled in that last playoff game..giants beat the shit**** out of him constantly knocking him on his a%%! For 6ft 5 and 250 they made him look like a rag doll out there..im done with the guy..seems like a very inmature person.All flash with no substance.

Finley is an intregal part of the Packers offense because of his skill set and the match up problems he causes and with Andrew Quarless likely starting out the season on PUP that makes it more significant that the Packers bring him back, the tightend position has evolved over recent years and it is now a must to have a weapon at that position.   <br /><br />But he hasn't shown the consistancy at this point that should earn him a large contract, he is not on the level of Vernon Davis, Antonio Gates, Jason Witten, or Tony Gonzalez, and there are younger guys like Jimmy Graham and Rob Gronkowski that are performing better.  <br /><br />So he is not an elite player at his position, he has the potential to be, but potential doesn't earn 7-8 million per year contracts(which is what his agent is asking for) , neither does dropped passes and immature comments.   If he and his agent won't settle for a mid-level contract then slap the franchise tag on him and say "show me".  I can't see how the guy would complain as the tag of 5.5 million would still make him a highly paid tightend and he would have the chance to back up his mouth, and if he doesn't the Packers can go in a different direction without future salary cap problems. 

he hasn't shown the consistancy at this point that should earn him a large contract, he is not on the level of Vernon Davis, Antonio Gates, Jason Witten, or Tony Gonzalez, and there are younger guys like Jimmy Graham and Rob Gronkowski that are performing better.  So he is not an elite player at his position, he has the potential to be BUT...

There are three problems with Jermichael Finley that are problematic for the Packers.

Not Tough Enough:  You need your TE to be able to roll up his sleeves and work in the trenches for the tough yards, including blocking.  You also need your TE to catch those hot passes over the middle for 3rd and long.  Finley doesn't do either.  I will even go as far to say that he drops passes because he hears footsteps.  Put him down the sideline in open space and he is okay but not in traffic and not over the middle.

Not Team Enough: This is a team sport and your TE needs to do all the grit things that define team.  Finley thinks, talks and acts like he is a premier WR.  His play (disappearing or dropping in big games) and his mouth will undermine the Packers in the years to come.

Developing TEs:  With Finley in place, we will forego developing the Gronkowski type TE.  Are Crabtree, D.J. Williams, Ryan Taylor or Andrew Quarless talented enough to step up?  With Finley demanding resources and playing time, we will may never find out.  We already know that Crabtree can't catch and Quarless may never fully recover from his injury so it may be time to move on.   

I am also not happy with the mouth and the drops, but he is still a young man. Coach says nobody practices harder than him. I really don't think the Packers will let him go.

I say franchise him this year. It's the cheapest franchise tagged position in the league, and we can give it one more season to see if he grows up and learns how to catch.

Regarding the developing TEs you already partially answered your own question, Crabtree can't catch and Quarless may not recover from his injuries.  That leave the Packers with Finley and two unknowns and maybe a rookie unknown.  You would rather go into the season with several unknowns than with Finley? I wouldn't.

I voted no to the long term deal.  Jermichael Finley has been too much potential and not enough production, too many dropped passes.  If this was his contract year and he did not live up to expectations what will he be like next year if you reward him for that.  I say frqnchise tag him for a year and see, he needs an incentive.  He also needs to grow up, stop running his mouth, stop complaining and just play ball - then let the deal take place.

I'm not sure who else the Packers would think about franchising, but I can't imagine it being Flynn, they wouldn't pay that much money for a backup, especially when they need defensive help.

My vote, don't reward Finley make him earn it.  If he wants to hold out let him.  It will only hurt Finley.  I think, even though he isn't as athletic as Finley, Ryan Taylor could develop into a good tight end.

That leave the Packers with Finley and two unknowns and maybe a rookie unknown.  You would rather go into the season with several unknowns than with Finley? I wouldn't.

This is and will continue to be the Packers problem going forward.  You really don't have a viable alternative to Finley at this point so you basically need to pay him or take the offensive hit.  So next year, when everyone is complaining about Finley's attitude or mouth or drops or lack of toughness, you can come around to the same dilemma.

Don't forget, Finley has Aaron Rodgers throwing to him, he should be putting Gronkowski/Graham numbers up.  He is obviously better than anything else that we have - at this point.  If you asked me whether paying Finley 7 or 8 million a year or paying a stud linebacker and dominant D-lineman the same it wouldn't be close.  Our money would be better spent on quality defensive talent than on an under achieving TE.

We seemed to have won the Superbowl last year and he wasn't in the lineup!
Draft someone in the middle rounds.

This is and will continue to be the Packers problem going forward.  You really don't have a viable alternative to Finley at this point so you basically need to pay him or take the offensive hit.  So next year, when everyone is complaining about Finley's attitude or mouth or drops or lack of toughness, you can come around to the same dilemma.

Maybe, or we could be saying  "It's a good thing we signed him long term because he just had his Gronkowski/Graham type season and it would cost a lot more to keep him if we had only franchised him"

If you asked me whether paying Finley 7 or 8 million a year or paying a stud linebacker and dominant D-lineman the same it wouldn't be close.  Our money would be better spent on quality defensive talent than on an under achieving TE.

I agree but not paying Finley is no guarantee they will get that stud linebacker and dominant D-lineman.  I'm guessing any long term deal would mean less money cap wise next season than a franchise tag would so the money to get those players would still be there.


I honestly don't get all this talk about him running his mouth.  Do you all really think this is a team full of Saints who play for the Packers just because they are the bestest team in the land.  I'm guessing 80-90% of the players on the roster would go somewhere else if the money were even a little bit better.  Probably pretty much the same as any other team.  Everybody, including me, loved Leroy Butler and he did nothing but run his mouth.  He still does and everyone, including me, still loves him.  Granted, he did a much better job of backing it up the Finley has done so far but the point is don't get all up in arms just because we have a player that runs off at the mouth.  

Comparing LeRoy Butler to Jermichael Finley is like comparing George Patton to Bernard Montgomery.  Some people back up their mouth, some people are egotistical twits that make excuses. 

Maybe Finley needs to go to the woodshed like Singletary did with Davis, Davis still talks but he got learned on how to back it up real fast.  Quite frankly some of these pro athletes need to grow up and act like men instead of being coddled. 

Thirteen dropped passes and barely get in your way blocking doesn't add up to a large contract extension with alot of garunteed money, an elite player would have come up with much more in his contract year, that seems to indicate he couldn't handle the pressure or was playing not to get hurt so he could cash in. 

There should me an onus on him to improve, if it is gift wrapped for him he comes off as the kind of guy that is going to go in the tank.       

Listen, running the guy down to prove his lack of worth is a dangerous game.  I am adding Jordy Nelson's deal to this discussion to illustrate this dilemma:

From Rotoworld 10/2/2011: Signed a four-year, $13.989 million contract. The deal contains $5 million guaranteed, including a $3.5 million signing bonus.

So a guy who gained 1264 yards and had 15 TDs is going to watch a guy with half the performance cash-in based on "potential".  Both of these guys have been in the league for 4 years.  Nelson has been available for 4 full years.  Nelson has matured into a bona fide, consistent top receiver.  NFL teams are forced to pay crazy contracts for unproven guys coming out of college.  After 3 or 4 years, these players have earned their next contract and are rewarded acccordingly.  Finley, IMO, has not done this but will cash-in with a lucrative franchise year or a 'greater than Jordy' type of contract.

As far as I am concerned, it sends the wrong message to the team and we are forced, yet again, to pay for potential.  


   
 

Ok lets look at his stats for the past 4 years....


                                                G       GS    Rec Yds        Avg     Lng     TD   Att  Yds Avg Lng  TD  FUM   Lost
   2011   Green Bay Packers   16     13     55   767      13.9      41      8     0    0      0     0      0    0      0 
   2010   Green Bay Packers    5        5      21  301       14.3     34      1     0    0      0     0      0    0      0
   2009   Green Bay Packers   13     10      55   676      12.3     62     T5    0    0      0    0      0     1      1
   2008   Green Bay Packers    14     1         6    74       12.3     35       1    0    0      0    0      0     0      0

Ok his best year so far has been in 2009 & 11 ( This yr ) but has he really proven to be an elite TE? 

he's dropped critical passes in clutch situations plenty of times and for those who say he's critical to our offense lets keep in mind that without him we still were able to win the SB and have a pretty prolific offense in 2010 --- the year we won it all ..

he's talked a big game but until i see him stop dropping the football i'm not sold on him really wanting to be one of those elite TE's like Tony Gonzalez

He's talked a big game but until i see him stop dropping the football i'm not sold on him really wanting to be one of those elite TE's like Tony Gonzalez

I think that you're saying - "earn it".  I say amen to that!