Our #1 Priority for the Offense in the Offseason.

[JTheGreat]

I know alot of people will probably disagree because I see alot of hate for this player, but its definitely Franchise tagging J.Finley. I definitely think Rodgers will say this is the 1st priority for the offense side of the ball. Coming off a IR Injury season he had a damn good year. He was 3rd in TE Scoring, and had a decent amount of yards. Yes he had drops, but those can be fixed as we seen with Nelson and Jones. He spent his whole offseason rehabbing last year, and that probably took a mental hit on him. I believe dropping balls is mental, so this offseason he will be able to play football and do alot of stuff that he couldnt last year because of his injury.

1) I really believe hes our #1 goaline target

2)Hes a defensive nightmare, even when he doesnt catch the ball, hes helping other wrs out because hes getting alot of attention.

3) He can lineup anywhere on the field.

 

[Brandon]

I'm not sure if I entirely agree, but I will concede that his dropped passes can be fixed as we saw with Nelson and Jones. There certainly aren't many players that could replace him, but we have so much speed on the field that I don't necessarily think he would be the x-factor if we had to go without him. As far as red-zone opportunities go, he is a big athletic target and TE's in general are favored in this area but Rodgers rushing ability makes him favor his WR's in the redzone a lot more I think since TE's typically work the middle of the field, and when Rodgers rolls out you typically don't see a throw that way. Just my thoughts.

 

[JTheGreat]

I'm not sure if I entirely agree, but I will concede that his dropped passes can be fixed as we saw with Nelson and Jones. There certainly aren't many players that could replace him, but we have so much speed on the field that I don't necessarily think he would be the x-factor if we had to go without him. As far as red-zone opportunities go, he is a big athletic target and TE's in general are favored in this area but Rodgers rushing ability makes him favor his WR's in the redzone a lot more I think since TE's typically work the middle of the field, and when Rodgers rolls out you typically don't see a throw that way. Just my thoughts.

I agree with rodgers mobility favoring wrs, but with finley we can split him out on his own and do work. I know we have a couple of times(him being the only wideout in the formation).

 

[JTheGreat]

Also I meant to say is all the hate on finley, he got alot of hate from people on this board and on twitter. He definitely wasnt the reason why we lost the game. IDK just my 2 cents.

 

[AmishMafia]

He wasn't the reason we lost, and he isn't a reason for us to win either.

Dropping the ball was not a problem for him until this season. So, it must be correctable. Whether it is a confidence thing or something else, I don't know. One thing I do believe is that he is a hard working and goal oriented. And that he will work his butt off this off season to get back to where he was.

He can be an amazing weapon and I hope we bring him back.

 

[realcaliforniacheese]

Bring back Finley # 2 Build a Wall around A-rod. If he has Brady's protection (or better yet Tebows) we are invincible.

 

[packerfan4ever]

I like him and hope he is back,you all made important points his drops can be corrected.

 

[dbain21]

I agree finley should be kept, like you said he had an off year and still put up very respectable numbers. I think a priority for an offense that has a elite qb is always to keep him protected though, you always need to be improving your offensive line weather it be starters or developing backups. the only argument i have against finley being the number one goal for the offense is the fact that we won the super bowl without him.

 

[Dan115]

Finley is only 24. Need to work with him.

 

[Southpaw]

I, like a lot of people on here after the loss wanted Finley gone. But you can't deny the match-up problems he poses for defenses and what a valuable weapon he is, even when he's having issues catching the ball.

This has been the year of the tight end. And from here on in everyone is going to be in the market for the big 6'5"+ tight end who can go up above a crowd and catch a pass, be a red zone nightmare for defenses and stretch the field. We are lucky to be one of only a handful of teams who has a player like that. And we can't let that kind of weapon walk and go to another team.

The Patriots and the Saints have shown just how dangerous an offense can be when tights ends are utilized correctly.

And it's not like Finley is a complete headcase or has a poor work ethic. He just has inconsistent hands and that can be fixed with a productive off season.

So yes he should be resigned or tagged. I'd rather sign him to a 3 year deal and tag and trade Flynn. That way we actually come away with something in return.


Another issue is our lack of balance which is far more of a cause for concern. We do not have a run game that any opposing defense will respect. Maybe it had to do with our lack of a healthy line or a healthy Starks.

But I think it would in our best interest to find us a feature RB in the draft. I know we drafted Alex Green but a RB coming off a knee injury like his, I wouldn't count on him bringing a ton of production back to our rushing attack immediately.

 

[Greenbayphil]

We need to franchise tag him, these sort of big wide reciever type TE's are taking over and we have one, we just need him nurtured into the next Jimmy Graham

 

[realcaliforniacheese]

I, like a lot of people on here after the loss wanted Finley gone. But you can't deny the match-up problems he poses for defenses and what a valuable weapon he is, even when he's having issues catching the ball.

This has been the year of the tight end. And from here on in everyone is going to be in the market for the big 6'5"+ tight end who can go up above a crowd and catch a pass, be a red zone nightmare for defenses and stretch the field. We are lucky to be one of only a handful of teams who has a player like that. And we can't let that kind of weapon walk and go to another team.

The Patriots and the Saints have shown just how dangerous an offense can be when tights ends are utilized correctly.

And it's not like Finley is a complete headcase or has a poor work ethic. He just has inconsistent hands and that can be fixed with a productive off season.

So yes he should be resigned or tagged. I'd rather sign him to a 3 year deal and tag and trade Flynn. That way we actually come away with something in return.


Another issue is our lack of balance which is far more of a cause for concern. We do not have a run game that any opposing defense will respect. Maybe it had to do with our lack of a healthy line or a healthy Starks.

But I think it would in our best interest to find us a feature RB in the draft. I know we drafted Alex Green but a RB coming off a knee injury like his, I wouldn't count on him bringing a ton of production back to our rushing attack immediately.

We can't tag Flynn, he is a free agent. We should get a real nice Compensatory pick for him in next years draft. I expect he is going to land a nice fat contract with some QB deprived team after his performance against the Lions. We will never pick low enough to get a good power back. Saine has shown he has talent and real good hands, our run game doesn't have to overpower it just has to keep them honest.

One good thing about the draft this year is we will have a lot of picks. We should pick up at least 4 compensatory picks, maybe even a couple in the fifth round. Give TT some trading cash.

 

[JacobInFlorida]

We could tag Flynn. The whole reason you tag a player is because he is a free agent.

 

[JTheGreat]

How many drops did he have though in the game? I can only think of 1 on the comeback where he clearly dropped the ball(wide open). The first play of offense for the packers could be considered a drop, but he was still sliding and did take a forearm to the helmet(which couldve been a penalty. On the big play of the game where he was wide open on the slant, and didnt come away with the ball, I think the blame would be put on Arodge for just missing him.

 

[Wood Chipper]

He was great the first half of the season but seemed to drop off after that. Remember the first Bears game when he got 3 TD's?

 

[Bogart]

I want a Tight End like Jimmy Graham...

If you watch interviews and stuff with Graham, just listen to him...He never talks like Finley "I'm so good, I'm just greatness" before the game, Finley bragging about how great he is to drop passes made me sick. I don't like the over confident ego that he has brought this team with. The reason people like Jimmy Graham so much is because he's appreciative, even when they asked him how he feels about his records this year he said "that's not me, it's the quarterback, he makes me look good" you can't find someone better than that, with that attitude. Finley is a Me First kinda player that I have always thought was the first hole in shining armor of this team.

 

[Jules]

I honestly am not sure you need a big ridiculous physical TE. It's all the rage now but so what.

There is always something new that is all the rage.

 

[Dan115]

I want a Tight End like Jimmy Graham...

If you watch interviews and stuff with Graham, just listen to him...He never talks like Finley "I'm so good, I'm just greatness" before the game, Finley bragging about how great he is to drop passes made me sick. I don't like the over confident ego that he has brought this team with. The reason people like Jimmy Graham so much is because he's appreciative, even when they asked him how he feels about his records this year he said "that's not me, it's the quarterback, he makes me look good" you can't find someone better than that, with that attitude. Finley is a Me First kinda player that I have always thought was the first hole in shining armor of this team.

I think the Packers are stuck with Finley for a few years.

 

[Bogart]

I think the Packers are stuck with Finley for a few years.

He will remain the weakest link of this team for a few years then. They win a Super Bowl the year he gets hurt, will never win one with him.

 

[Dan115]

He will remain the weakest link of this team for a few years then. They win a Super Bowl the year he gets hurt, will never win one with him.

Maybe win a few despite him.

 

[realcaliforniacheese]

We could tag Flynn. The whole reason you tag a player is because he is a free agent.

your right. my mistake, but you would have to pay big bucks to tag him and then what are you going to get in trade?

 

[Jules]

He will remain the weakest link of this team for a few years then. They win a Super Bowl the year he gets hurt, will never win one with him.

Ouch. I hope thats not the case. But remember the Giants when Shockey got hurt? They said it was a huge loss and they won it all lmao.

God I don't want to see Aaron get shafted by a team that is not balanced enough while he is in his prime. I can't handle it.

 

[realcaliforniacheese]

Finley is a must for our offense unless we can find another big tight end. He is a big time match up problem in the red zone and will draw the coverage. He just had his best year and yeah he dropped some but so did everyone else. Unless we pick up another guy with his talent our O is going to be diminished without him.

 

[Southpaw]

I want a Tight End like Jimmy Graham...

If you watch interviews and stuff with Graham, just listen to him...He never talks like Finley "I'm so good, I'm just greatness" before the game, Finley bragging about how great he is to drop passes made me sick. I don't like the over confident ego that he has brought this team with. The reason people like Jimmy Graham so much is because he's appreciative, even when they asked him how he feels about his records this year he said "that's not me, it's the quarterback, he makes me look good" you can't find someone better than that, with that attitude. Finley is a Me First kinda player that I have always thought was the first hole in shining armor of this team.

When you grow up an orphan it's easy to be appreciative.

Finley having an overconfident ego is a joke, and one that I'm damn sick of. You get a big reception or score TD and you celebrate you are now an overconfident jerk apparently.

Well someone should tell Jimmy Graham to stop dunking the ball over the goal post and butting heads with DB's after big receptions. That fuking egomaniac jerk!!!!!!!

The "I'd like more touches" quote is going to follow Finley forever in the minds of some idiots. Which is unfortunate just two seasons ago he was a weapon, now he comes back from an injury and doesn't look good now he sucks/is a jerk/needs to leave. People said the same things about James Jones and his drops. Next year he comes back and it's a non-issue.

Yeah we won a Superbowl without him. We also won a Superbowl without Driver playing in the game. Maybe we should let him go too.

We won the Superbowl without Woodson playing in the second half. CUT HIS ***!!!!!!!!!

The ADD generation though, so this is typical

 

[Bogart]

Well someone should tell Jimmy Graham to stop dunking the ball over the goal post and butting heads with DB's after big receptions. That fuking egomaniac jerk!!!!!!!

But it's Ok for Finley to drop a bunch of passes and then celebrating after catching a TD? Gimme a break...

Work ethic wise, Graham is going to be the go-to-guy as long as Brees has him, and Finley is on his way out. He was 2nd place in the league for most dropped passes, and you still want to keep him after he dropped a BIG 3rd down play?

Yes his "me me me" attitude will follow him everywhere cause he don't learn, like Vernon Davis and he probably never will. he's locker room disease, straight up T.O. style.