Finley should stay...and Packers should pay him his money!

[ivo610]

for him to say he is going to "walk" if asked to restucture, then to turn around and make a **** poor effort to cover his *** and say "maybe" I will restructure if its something I like. To me he is a self centered ***clown who wont do what it takes for the good of the team and to remain on a winning team. His lack luster performances and bloated attitude needs to "walk" out that door. There are plenty of options besides him, to include drafting a replacement. There have been very few packers I have disliked, he is #1 on my list. Grade A+ D-bag.

In a perfect world he chases money as a FA, goes to a team with a terrible QB, and has a complete meltdown. NYJ maybe

 

[Oshkoshpackfan]

^ lol.....I was thinking Browns or Jags.

 

[HardRightEdge]

for him to say he is going to "walk" if asked to restucture, then to turn around and make a **** poor effort to cover his *** and say "maybe" I will restructure if its something I like.

No, he never said he'd walk if the Packers asked him to restructure. He said he'd walk if they asked him to take a pay cut. There's a difference.

I'm sure there's a "cap friendly" package he'd accept that replaces the one year remaining on his current deal, puts $8.5 mil cash in his pocket this year like he would have gotten otherwise, but averages meaningfully less than $8.5 mil over a multi-year period. The question is, "how much less?"

Marcedes Lewis is working under the following deal:

8/5/2011: Signed a five-year, $35 million contract. The deal contains $17 million guaranteed. Another $1.8 million is available in incentives. An annual $150,000 workout bonus is available in years two through five. 2013: $4.2 million, 2014: $6.7 million, 2015: $6.65 million, 2016: Free Agent

Would the Packers be willing to match that? I doubt it. Would anybody else offer that deal? Probably not. He remains a guy who is part performance, part tease. Would Finley be willing to accept that deal? You'd have to think he would if offered. Would he accept something less? Perhaps.

All Finley said, in essence, is that he'd accept a restructure from the Pack but he'll take no home discount.

The default outcome remains: Finley sticks and gets one more year to earn a multi-year deal.

 

[jetfixer]

What would a trade get us for Finley, I wouldn't be opposed to that.

 

[jetfixer]

Yeah, no doubt. How about that Dallas game last year when Whitten caught 18 passes in one game? WOW!!! They had him covered like a blanket, yet he found a way to continually catch and make production. Now that is ELITE.

Whitten is a stud.

 

[TJV]

I'm going to laugh when some idiot GM pays him crazy money.

But not if that "idiot" GM is Thompson, right? It’s still a possibility that the Packers restructure his deal into a longer term one. And if they pay him the $3M at the end of this month we all have to agree, Thompson and the Packers value Finley a lot more than many of us do, don’t we? I agree the $8M+ is a lot to pay him but the advantage to the Packers is it’s just a one year deal. They could view retaining Finley for one year as a “bridge” to a post Jennings/Finley offense. And if Finley has a great year, they can tag him.

IMO Finley lost a half step when he got injured in 2010 and that robbed him of a chance to be an elite TE. With his attitude and immaturity there was no guarantee of that anyway but now I view him only as an above average TE in the passing game. I realize many here don’t value him that highly but what the stats don’t show is how often D’s attention to Finley has resulted in completions to others. The Packers, from the front office through the coaching staff, obviously have a much better handle on that.

 

[ivo610]

What would a trade get us for Finley, I wouldn't be opposed to that.

Nothing. No team is going to trade for an overpaid player on a 1 yr contract

 

[Oshkoshpackfan]

^ ok, maybe I was reading more into what he said than what was really said. Either way, he sounds selfish and unwilling to bend for the good of the team. In my eyes, that is not a team player. Nor does he command that much respect or have that type of team status to make those statements. Hell, even Favre took a paycut to retain key players and make more room for oncomers. finley = turd

 

[HardRightEdge]

We would not be in some sort of desperate survival mode without him, we did just fine in 2010. It is beyond me how some people label him as "elite" when he does not produce in an elite way. Off the top of my head I can see way more elite TE's than him:
Gronkowski
Hernandez
Graham
Whitten
Olson,Greg
Rudolph
Gonzalez
Davis, Vernon
Miller, Heath
Danials, Owen
Gates
Celek, brent
Clarke, dallas

I would take any one of these guys HANDS DOWN over finley. Finley is a 3rd teir TE, plain and simple.

There are 3 problems with this:

1) You don't have anybody on the roster like any of those guys who could take Finley's place.

2) There's no guarantee you could find anybody like those guys even with the #26 pick, and we need that pick to fill one of the other four or five holes that need filling.

3) How many of those guys would you be comfortable giving a 4 or 5 year deal from an age perspective?

TT's in a a tough spot. There is evidently as much disagreement in house on this topic as there is on this forum.

 

[ivo610]

But not if that "idiot" GM is Thompson, right? It’s still a possibility that the Packers restructure his deal into a longer term one. And if they pay him the $3M at the end of this month we all have to agree, Thompson and the Packers value Finley a lot more than many of us do, don’t we? I agree the $8M+ is a lot to pay him but the advantage to the Packers is it’s just a one year deal. They could view retaining Finley for one year as a “bridge” to a post Jennings/Finley offense. And if Finley has a great year, they can tag him.

IMO Finley lost a half step when he got injured in 2010 and that robbed him of a chance to be an elite TE. With his attitude and immaturity there was no guarantee of that anyway but now I view him only as an above average TE in the passing game. I realize many here don’t value him that highly but what the stats don’t show is how often D’s attention to Finley has resulted in completions to others. The Packers, from the front office through the coaching staff, obviously have a much better handle on that.

No, when the packers front office does something stupid I don't tend to laugh. It's more of a strong sadness.

Same reaction I had with Crosby being extended as well as AJ hawk.

 

[Oshkoshpackfan]

Nothing. No team is going to trade for an overpaid player on a 1 yr contract

c'mon now, the Lions front office is notorious for making boneheaded choices as is Jerry Jones.

 

[Oshkoshpackfan]

There are 3 problems with this:

1) You don't have anybody on the roster like any of those guys who could take Finley's place.

2) There's no guarantee you could find anybody like those guys even with the #26 pick, and we need that pick to fill one of the other four or five holes that need filling.

3) How many of those guys would you be comfortable giving a 4 or 5 year deal from an age perspective?

TT's in a a tough spot. There is evidently as much disagreement in house on this topic as there is on this forum.

My point was that we wont be dead in the water without finley and there are others that are Elite that he somehow gets lumped into that category with them when in reality he is a turd sandwich. I was in no way implying that we should spend our 1st rounder on a TE, that is foolish, D line or O line comes first. I would say we could pick up a quality newby TE in the 4th.

 

[HardRightEdge]

I would say we could pick up a quality newby TE in the 4th.

I seriously doubt. Not anybody who would do us much good in the passing game in 2013 anyway. We took D.J. Williams in the 5th., and 2 years in he's got a tentative grasp on this offense, and that's a charitable assessment.

If Finley could be replaced that easily he would have been cut by now.

 

[El Guapo]

Finley is more stupid and immature than intentionally selfish or a drama queen. Fans read too much into the garbage that comes out of his mouth. His "I'll walk" quote is a classic Finley. He says something and then realizes how stupid it was, and then backtracks by essentially saying the opposite thing. People who don't think before they speak will say such things. We don't need to make Finley out to be a bad dude. Rodgers and others on the team seem to stick up for him and generally like him, maybe not best friends, but like him. We don't need to demonize him just because he lacks the intelligence that most of us take for granted.

If you read that article further, the author states that Finley's agent will likely test the FA waters. However, if he finds that no team is willing to offer more than Finley is currently scheduled to make in 2013, then Finley would likely be open to restructuring his deal with GB because he'd have to take a pay cut wherever he signs.

 

[HardRightEdge]

And if they pay him the $3M at the end of this month we all have to agree, Thompson and the Packers value Finley a lot more than many of us do, don’t we?

March 27 cannot come soon enough. They will pay him the roster bonus, securing his place for 2013, or renegotiate him by them, or they'll cut him.

 

[texaspackerbacker]

We would not be in some sort of desperate survival mode without him, we did just fine in 2010. It is beyond me how some people label him as "elite" when he does not produce in an elite way. Off the top of my head I can see way more elite TE's than him:
Gronkowski
Hernandez
Graham
Whitten
Olson,Greg
Rudolph
Gonzalez
Davis, Vernon
Miller, Heath
Danials, Owen
Gates
Celek, brent
Clarke, dallas

There are 3 problems with this:

1) You don't have anybody on the roster like any of those guys who could take Finley's place.

2) There's no guarantee you could find anybody like those guys even with the #26 pick, and we need that pick to fill one of the other four or five holes that need filling.

3) How many of those guys would you be comfortable giving a 4 or 5 year deal from an age perspective?

TT's in a a tough spot. There is evidently as much disagreement in house on this topic as there is on this forum.

How many of those guys were first round picks or even second? Not many. It comes down to the kind of TE you are looking for - a big possession type receiver or a Finley-type stretch the field kind of guy. I think we could find somebody in the 3rd - 5th round who could match that list - if we go for a big possession type.

 

[Oshkoshpackfan]

I agree with ya. Maybe finley needs a speach writer like ol' president bush jr had. They both seem to be on an even level of ****. I really do believe the reason his teammates take up for him is that they actually have class. No matter how much of a turd someone is, if he is a teammate, you should stick up for him as a leader.....does not mean they don't think he is a turd. lol

 

[HardRightEdge]

We would not be in some sort of desperate survival mode without him, we did just fine in 2010. It is beyond me how some people label him as "elite" when he does not produce in an elite way. Off the top of my head I can see way more elite TE's than him:
Gronkowski
Hernandez
Graham
Whitten
Olson,Greg
Rudolph
Gonzalez
Davis, Vernon
Miller, Heath
Danials, Owen
Gates
Celek, brent
Clarke, dallas




How many of those guys were first round picks or even second? Not many. It comes down to the kind of TE you are looking for - a big possession type receiver or a Finley-type stretch the field kind of guy. I think we could find somebody in the 3rd - 5th round who could match that list - if we go for a big possession type.

If that were true, everybody would do it instead of paying the above guys what they earn.

 

[texaspackerbacker]

If that were true, everybody would do it instead of paying the above guys what they earn.

hahahaha - but not everybody has a great GM like Ted Thompson. Most of those guys were drafted mid-range. With some skill and luck, and aiming for a Gronkowski proto-type rather than a Finley proto-type, we should be able to get a nice upgrade in that part of the draft.

 

[HardRightEdge]

hahahaha - but not everybody has a great GM like Ted Thompson. Most of those guys were drafted mid-range. With some skill and luck, and aiming for a Gronkowski proto-type rather than a Finley proto-type, we should be able to get a nice upgrade in that part of the draft.

Gronkowski was the #42 pick in the draft. Had he not missed all of his senior year with a back injury, he would have been a top 20 pick. That kind of talent is not hiding down the draft board.

Evidently, Belichick likes to take risks with injuries in the second round. He took Ras-I Dowling with the #33 pick in 2011.

The successes are remembered; the failures forgotten. And so it is with TT's 3rd. - 5th. round picks. And you can count up all the guys in that list who came out of the mid rounds, but you better go back 10 years and count up the TEs taken in the middle rounds who are not on that list. It is all easier said than done.

 

[Poppa San]

I think TT believes he is in this range thus Finley will probably get his money this year if he keeps his mouth shut from now until the 27th. http://www.numeroten.com/top-10-lists/sports/top-10-highest-paid-nfl-tight-ends-2012-season/

 

[13 Times Champs]

Certainly we can get a Stud tight end in later rounds. We got Finley in the third didn't we?

 

[Alex]

for him to say he is going to "walk" if asked to restucture, then to turn around and make a **** poor effort to cover his *** and say "maybe" I will restructure if its something I like. To me he is a self centered ***clown who wont do what it takes for the good of the team and to remain on a winning team. His lack luster performances and bloated attitude needs to "walk" out that door. There are plenty of options besides him, to include drafting a replacement. There have been very few packers I have disliked, he is #1 on my list. Grade A+ D-bag.

Couldn't have said it better myself! Reading his interview about how he refuses to take less money he just sounded like a me first kinda guy. I could see him being one of those guys not caring if the team loses every game as long as he gets his paycheck.

 

[burt packerack]

I'll be honest I am a huge Finley critic. But I don't want him to walk away. I still believe the best is yet to come with J'Mike. Yes he has an attitude, catching, and chemistry problems. But we have a finesse offense and he can fill that role. Not many TEs can split into the slot and command so much attention from an opposing defense.

 

[El Guapo]

Below is an excerpt from Finley's agent trying to back away from Jermichael's "I'll walk" statement:

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/195695611.html

Baratz said Finley doesn’t fully understand that when he says something — be it about Urlacher, his quarterback or his contract — it can go viral in an instant.
“It’s not malicious. He actually has a good heart and he actually wants to do well and means well," Baratz said. "And he doesn’t know how to express it the right way. But you don’t get to know him through one-liners in the media. You get to know him by really spending time with him. He’s not perfect. I’m not perfect. No one’s perfect. But what I will say is he works as hard as any player I’ve ever been around and he’s as competitive as any player I’ve ever been around, and that’s probably both a positive and a negative quality.”