2012 free agents

how many more years on greg jennings' deal?

In hindsight it would have been better to let Jones walk when you factor in Cobb, DD looking good, Finley, and the UFA rookies (Gurley and West). Then re-sign Jordy this upcoming off season for what Jones got.

I think Jennings is an FA in 2013, as are Woodson and Driver.

Wells will earn an extension this season I'm sure as will Finley and Nelson. In order of importance I would say it's Finley, Wells, Nelson, Bush, Green, Grant, Lee. I could see them letting Grant walk unless he would re-sign for minimum, same for Green and Lee. Bush will get more than minimum, but they will offer him a team friendly deal.

Given what's backing up Finley versus Wells, I'd say Wells is more important. They won a Super Bowl without Finley. Also, the Packers have quite a corral of WRs, so I think they could get by better sans Finley.

As far as Jones goes, I'm glad the Packers re-signed him. One game does not a season make. He's gonna play a big role in the offense.

quote:

Originally posted by Grave Digger:
In order of importance I would say it's Finley, Wells, Nelson, Bush, Green, Grant, Lee.

I find this tough to accept because of what we were able to accomplish without Finley last year.

In fact, the only guy I think they NEED to sign is Wells. Remember, they already took care of Sitton the best of the possible 2012 FA's and I think OL is the most important because you need to Keep Rodgers healthy.

Finley - Will want more than he is worth and Uncle Ted does not over pay. Hope I am wrong here, but J-Mike rubs me as the kind of guy who will seek every penny he can get. Can't blame him with his injury history.

Grant - I cant see him coming back when we have Starks and Green

Nelson - This is the tough one IMO. He deserves decent money but the Pack is already invested in Jennings, Jones and Cobb. I think Jordy will get more interest than Jones did on the market and will be gone.

Bush - He deserves to get extended but will he want to go somewhere where he has a chance to start? We know he isnt starter quality, but maybe he wants a shot.

Green - Old fat guys don't get paid by Uncle Ted, he gone.

Lee - Maybe he gets a Bush type deal.

I

http://www.rotoworld.com/teams/contracts/nfl/gb/

I'm not saying Finley is more vital to the team, in order of importance I would say Finley and Wells are 1a and 1b in no particular order. Finley is a rare talent at the age of 25, and despite his annoying twitter habit is a guy you would rather keep than have to face. He's in no position to demand huge money and I expect him to sign a 3 or 4 year deal, setting him up as an FA at 28/29. Wells is a key cog in that line and is in his prime at 31. He's not going to demand or get a ton of money so I expect Uncle Ted to re-sign him during the season. Same for Finley.

Bush won't leave. They will give him enough up front to make it worth his while.

Keep Finley, Wells and Nelson. Jones hasn't shown me he can be a #2 receiver. Nelson has.

When Driver retires, we'll have Jennings, Jones and Cobb. Cobb, as good as he looked last night, is not ready to be a top three receiver. Jones drops the ball too much. Can he improve on that? I'm sure he will. But Nelson is vital to the offense.

quote:

Green - Old fat guys don't get paid by Uncle Ted, he gone.

Huh? I don't think he's going to want much.

Finley is more of a luxury than an integral cog in the offensive machine and if the the price isn't right I expect TT to let him walk. Given his stated intention to be the highest paid TE in football I'm doubtful the price will be right.

It will be interesting to see how much increase there will be in the cap every year with the new cba. I think you have to try and lock up Nelson this year, and ar12 deserves to be paid like a top qb very soon. I think TT will offer Finley good money, but he will test the market and likely try to be paid as the highest tight-end in the league, as well he should. I don't think there is a better TE now, and he is only going to get better. Bush will likely resign around the 1m a year mark, id guess. Wells... Idk. Hes a good center, and anything we could draft to replace would be a downgrade in the short term. Maybe a tender, but I still think he feels under valued after he started a couple seasons ago as a backup. We have alot of high value players on the roster, were going to lose some of them. From a leadership standpoint it's hard to justify losing your captains. Guys like Rodgers, wells, hawk, and bush have a good presence to their respected groups

I don't think TT will let him walk. I expect Finley to get franchised if they can't come up with a deal. I'm guessing they'll be far apart. Finley thinks an awful lot of himself and will want to be paid like the best TE in football. TT will take a different approach.

It's simple to me. If you want to be paid like Antonio Gates, perform like Antonio Gates. As good as we think Finley can be, he hasn't done it yet. I think he can though.

I don't know if Finley's importance to the team can be overstated. Sure, we won the SB without him playing, but, just the same, we could've easily lost the opener vs the Saints without his contribution. All of a sudden, our season would be looking much different...
He brings a dimension to this offense straight out of the Twilight Zone. Over time, I think he will be better than Gates or Gonzales ever were.
However, it's a bit of a 'trade-off', IMO, in that he might realize his biggest opportunities with a team that has a weak receiving corps, but that also means he wouldn't be playing with Aaron Rodgers.
In the end, I agree that his biggest payday opportunity may be another 3-4 years from now, so I hope that a middle ground can be found for the meantime. In TT we trust.

I disagree about the luxury issue. He is part of the reason the wides are running around wide open. This team could win 3-4 more SB's if they keep the super stars and Finley is that.

quote:

Originally posted by michiganjoe:
Finley is more of a luxury than an integral cog in the offensive machine and if the the price isn't right I expect TT to let him walk. Given his stated intention to be the highest paid TE in football I'm doubtful the price will be right.

Finley may want to be the highest paid TE in the NFL, but he's not going to get paid that much. His value is based on expectations and potential. He's shown that he can be a weapon, but never consistently. He's had 1 good season where is his stats weren't in the same league as Gates or Gonzalez, 1 missed season due to injury and 1 season where he didn't do squat. Even a greedy agent is going to tell him that's not enough to warrant mega-bucks. He will get a fair deal, which is competitive with many of the top TE's in the NFL, but he won't be in the top 5.

quote:

Originally posted by Grave Digger:
His value is based on expectations and potential.

Some team may be willing to give him a boatload based on "expectations and potential". I can see his agent plugging the line, "There's so many weapons in GB, certainly his #s are gonna be down compared to other elite TEs."

That is true, but the I think that fact that he's never started 16 games in a row will still scare most teams from making him a top 5 TE. And really I think the biggest thing necessary for Finley to stay in GB is Finley wanting to stay in GB. Thompson will pay him what he deserves, probably as much as any other decent team would, but I don't think he deserves to be or will be paid like a top 5 TE.

quote:

Originally posted by Johnny Boy:
I disagree about the luxury issue. He is part of the reason the wides are running around wide open. This team could win 3-4 more SB's if they keep the super stars and Finley is that.

Jennings exploded after Finley went down and his role in WR production is probably minimal. The Packers are a better team with Finley, but I'm not sure TT's cost/benefit analysis will ultimately be in his favor.

Perhaps GD is correct and he can be signed for a reasonable price. After missing badly on both Jones and Jenkins I've given up predicting on what the FA market will look like.

quote:

Originally posted by Grave Digger:
Finley may want to be the highest paid TE in the NFL, but he's not going to get paid that much. His value is based on expectations and potential. He's shown that he can be a weapon, but never consistently. He's had 1 good season where is his stats weren't in the same league as Gates or Gonzalez, 1 missed season due to injury and 1 season where he didn't do squat. Even a greedy agent is going to tell him that's not enough to warrant mega-bucks. He will get a fair deal, which is competitive with many of the top TE's in the NFL, but he won't be in the top 5.

I don't get the idea that Finley wants to be the highest paid TE in the league. I know Finley doesn't have the best reputation on this board but I don't think he's motivated by money. Obviously he wants to get paid but if you read his quotes and tweets, this guy is motivated by greatness. I think he knows his best route to being the greatest TE in the league is to stay in GB. Finley was pissed he wasn't on the field for the Super Bowl and desparately wants to get back there.

He needs to play the entire season. (Including playoffs and hopefully Super Bowl) If he catches 75-80 balls this year and about 10-12 TD's, he might make between top 5-10 TE's money.

Finley will definitely get paid top-5 TE money. Most likely, he will get Franchised, and that is automatically top-5 money. But even if he doesn't, there are going to be plenty of interested teams, and contracts go up incrementally every year. Unless he just chooses to take less money, he's going to be paid for his ability, not his past production.

If the Packers choose to keep him, and I can see both sides of that argument, they will have to pay him like one of the best in the league at his position.

I really don't get the feeling Finley would be franchised with 4 other TE's on the roster at this point. He's a very good player but TT would probably end up with a 3rd rounder for him too.

Remember TT loved Finley coming out of school, the only time I've ever heard TT make his draft intentions obvious to the public. Not sure if that plays into it, but it's hard to see TT drafting a raw player, develop him into a stud, then let him walk.

As for the other TE's, only Quarless has the athletic ability of Finley and he's not even close to realizing it. Without Finley last year, the TE position was rarely used. They need Finley to dominate the Bears Cover 2 defense. Finley makes week 17 and the NFCC much easier games.

The Franchise figure for TEs is reasonable, and probably less for one year than Finley would make per/year on his next contract - so if he signed the deal, there's no danger that the Packers would have to overpay him. If instead of keeping him, the Packers chose to trade him, they could get easily a 2nd round pick for him. I could even see a low 1st, or maybe a 2nd and a 4th.

There is no downside to Franchising Finley if they can't re-sign him prior to the start of free agency.

quote:

Originally posted by CUPackFan:
As for the other TE's, only Quarless has the athletic ability of Finley and he's not even close to realizing it.

Quarless has athletic ability no doubt, but even if he reaches his full potential, he won't be in the same league with Finley. Players like Finley don't come around too often.

Wells may be a priority because his replacement is not really on the roster or practice squad. Spitz didn't pan out, neither did McDonald. Even if they draft a C in the first round, few can move right in and make the calls the way he does.

Wells is definitely earning his deal. He's playing great and he's always available (knock on wood). He's the leader of that o-line and him a Rodgers seem to have a pretty good relationship.

quote:

he won't be in the same league with Finley. Players like Finley don't come around too often.

I guess I am trying to figure as to what league Finley is in. He hasn't had been healthy for a full season the last two. He has shown glimpses but until he can stay on the field and shut his trap, he doesn't deserve a huge deal.

quote:

Originally posted by mr21mr21:
In hindsight it would have been better to let Jones walk when you factor in Cobb, DD looking good, Finley, and the UFA rookies (Gurley and West). Then re-sign Jordy this upcoming off season for what Jones got.

Do you expect Jordy's next deal to come in at 3YR/9M? I do not.

quote:

Do you expect Jordy's next deal to come in at 3YR/9M? I do not.

Exactly.. TT was prepared to let Jones walk, but when he became a bargain he brought him back.

I don't think the same will occur with Nelson unless he has a down year. Then again, I thought Jones would be a hotter commodity then he was.

Jason Witten just signed for 5 yrs, 37 million.... 19 million guaranteed.

Just to give a barometer of what GB might be looking at with Finley.