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The following is IMO JMO IMHO:

Jermicheal Finley is good. Hall Of Fame good. He could be better than Shannon Sharpe, Antonio Gates, and Tony Gonzales. On any other team he would be getting 10+ balls thrown his way every week. He can't be covered using traditional schemes. The thing I looked forward to the most during the offseason was getting to see the Packer offense going wild and with Finley back in the mix. I had a sideline pass for a TC practice and got to be around all the WRs and TEs up close. JM is a freak. He is huge. He is fast. During ST drills when most of the vets were standing around talking, JM was with the QBs catching passes, over and over and over. But he is being used like Ed West or Mark Chumura. On a passing team in a passing league Finley is barely being used. He is somewhere around 12th or 13th among starting TEs, and the team is 7-0. We don't need him to do any more than he is.

After this season TT could very well let Finley walk without an offer. He is going to be expensive, his production can be replaced with Quarless, Crabtree and DJ Williams, maybe he even deserves a chance to play for a team that will get him the ball more. As a football fan, I'd really like to see him being utilized more, even with another team, I'd like to watch him play.

A 24 year old HOF caliber offensive weapon. The Packers could let him go after his contract expires and move on without him and be just fine.

The speaks to just how good a job TT has done assembling this team. Outstanding.


ROTTT
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They proved last year they could win without Finley but that doesn't mean I want him to leave.

Finley helps this offense immensely even when he isn't catching the ball. Defenses freak out when he's on the field. Aaron said he's going to throw to the open guy. When Finley is doubled, somebody is open. Jennings and Nelson have been the biggest beneficiaries of Finley's presence.

I agree with what you said in chat, the Packers should've hung a 50 burger on that defense. However, give them credit for finishing the game on offense using the running game. Pretty nice set of downs by Starks there to put the dagger in.
Don't get me wrong, I don't want Finley to go. But some weeks I get the feeling he must be looking forward to hitting FA at the end of the year and going to a team that is going to get him the ball more.

My point is if he does go, the Packers will still be OK. How many teams can afford to lose a player like that? Only a team built like this team is built.



Agreed, it was great to see the Packer offense finish the game the way they did.
Agreed but with the exception that TT is paying potential #2 WR 3 million a year. They are all young guys. They are all getting a immediate payday but what TT has shelled out for JJ and Nelson is not prohibitive.

It looks like to me that TT is taking the salary game in a different direction. We draft, you start to produce, you get a immediate spiff but its not long term. I don't doubt that Finley will demand a larger contract but I really believe other players aren't going to blow up their agents for bigger contracts because they are getting 3 to 5 million up front on a very affordable contract.

TT is creating a culture that is completely opposite of jackasses like A.J. Smith.
I think JFin would like to be known as the best TE in the league. And I don't think he can put up "best TE in the league" numbers with the Packers. They have too many weapons and Rodgers has really learned to spread the ball around. Look at today: 24 completions to 9 different receivers! Eeker

Wouldn't be surprised if JFin would rather put up bigger numbers on a lesser team. I think it will take the franchise tag to keep him. Hope I'm wrong.
quote:
Originally posted by PackLandVA:
I think JFin would like to be known as the best TE in the league. And I don't think he can put up "best TE in the league" numbers with the Packers. They have too many weapons and Rodgers has really learned to spread the ball around. Look at today: 24 completions to 9 different receivers! Eeker

Wouldn't be surprised if JFin would rather put up bigger numbers on a lesser team. I think it will take the franchise tag to keep him. Hope I'm wrong.


So you think Finley is all about the numbers and not the championships?
quote:
Originally posted by Henry:
It looks like to me that TT is taking the salary game in a different direction.
It will be interesting to see how Rodgers and his agent feel about that direction. Part of me hopes he's the once in a lifetime guy that falls on the sword to keep his weapons. The rest of me can't remember the last time a QB took a meaningful reduction in his salary for the sake of success. Brady took a discount if I remember but it wasn't all that much. Manning's contract demands are partly to blame for the situation the Colts are in now. There's not another player in the league with as much leverage as Rodgers has right now.
quote:
Originally posted by Boris:
They proved last year they could win without Finley but that doesn't mean I want him to leave.

Finley helps this offense immensely even when he isn't catching the ball. Defenses freak out when he's on the field. Aaron said he's going to throw to the open guy. When Finley is doubled, somebody is open. Jennings and Nelson have been the biggest beneficiaries of Finley's presence.

I agree with all that.

And I agree with FreeSafety that we haven't shown everything yet. And it doesn't take much to envision what that might look like. Finley's roll obviously could be expanded. Throw in some passes to TEs who line up as blockers in the bone formation. Or even line up in a variations of the double TE formation and unveil some options stuff. GB has all the tools to do all those things on their roster. I think something is being left for the playoffs. Right now emptying the playbook would take some doing. And that is a nice problem to have. I get the idea GB is just doing just enough to win now offensively. Defensively, I think their problems are real.

And to finish, I just want to congratulate Crosby on a great game. Wow.
quote:
Originally posted by Henry:
So you think Finley is all about the numbers and not the championships?


No, I don't think he's ALL about the numbers. I just think most athletes that are really good say it's "not about the money" when very often it's about the money. I'm sure he realizes he has the potential to put up bigger numbers with a different team.

If trust whatever TT does. If TT thinks he's worth breaking the bank for (which is what I think it will take), great...sign him. If TT thinks he's only worth so much, and then Finley walks, so be it.
quote:
Originally posted by Hungry5:
How bad is Jennings hand hurt?


JSO asking the same question (link).

quote:
Jennings took himself out of the game and had the hand looked at on the sideline, then returned the next time the Packers got the ball. He said the medical staff did not take an X-ray of the hand at halftime.

The part that might make people nervous is that Jennings said his hand went numb for quite awhile and when he did return to the game - he caught six more passes for 121 yards, including a 79-yard touchdown - it was no easy chore to catch QB Aaron Rodgers' fastballs.

"It hurts, it definitely hurts," Jennings said of catching a pass. "I'll say that."

Jennings said he doesn't know how he hurt the hand.

"I know I took a hit on my hand," he said. "We'll see what the case is. I was able to continue playing. But for that time-being, I really couldn't feel anything."
quote:
Originally posted by titmfatied:
quote:
Originally posted by Henry:
It looks like to me that TT is taking the salary game in a different direction.
It will be interesting to see how Rodgers and his agent feel about that direction. Part of me hopes he's the once in a lifetime guy that falls on the sword to keep his weapons. The rest of me can't remember the last time a QB took a meaningful reduction in his salary for the sake of success. Brady took a discount if I remember but it wasn't all that much. Manning's contract demands are partly to blame for the situation the Colts are in now. There's not another player in the league with as much leverage as Rodgers has right now.


WTF are you talking about? A reduction? I fully expect to put a contract in Rodgers lap that makes him very wealthy right now instead of the 10 year contract horse**** of the past. It protects the franchise, it protects the player.

How are the Colts dealing with a potential career ending injury to Manning? I expect a contract bump for Rodgers this coming year.
I guess I'm in the minority right now, in regards to Finley. I don't think he's looked nearly as good as he did at the start of last year. He still uses his size to great advantage, but the speed hasn't been on display. Most of the time, when he makes a catch, he has a defender draped all over him. More telling, he hasn't been generating much of anything after the catch. He's not contributing as much, and I don't think it's entirely because of the depth of talent on offense.

Last year, I thought he and Jennings were near equals as players. This year, Jennings is by far the better of the two.

I'm not saying Finley won't get back there, he certainly has the talent, but I'd like to see him get all the way back before he gets a massive new contract.
Getting back to FS original point is we all see the potential domination but would you trade it for bunch of "kinda superstars" that light up the scoreboard?

Of course you make the obvious choice and invest in the system over the player. That doesn't mean they don't make a play for Finley and the numbers he will command.

The inference that Finley would interfere with Rodger's contract is pure foolishness.
Signing Finley to top 5 TE money isn't that expensive. Neither is franchising him.

I'll be interested to see if Rodgers wants to be the highest paid player of all-time or if he isn't greedy, the same way Jordy isn't/wasn't greedy.

For now, it seems Rodgers is all about the hardware. It would be fantastic if we can repeat.
quote:
Originally posted by Boris:
Signing Finley to top 5 TE money isn't that expensive. Neither is franchising him.



That is true. I just feel there is a chance Finley gets balky and wants to move on. And if that happens I don't think it will hurt the team as much as I once did and that makes me respect TT even more.
Finley has 6 catches in the past 3 games and the offense is doing just fine. It'd be nice to keep him around, but he's not one of those must keep at any cost players IMO. With Rodgers, Jennings, Nelson, Jones and Cobb, this offense has more than enough weapons to score 30+ points every game.
quote:
Originally posted by Henry:


So you think Finley is all about the numbers and not the championships?


I think Finley wants it all: Highest paid TE in the league, three TDs per game, and championships. The fact that the Packers can win big and he still complains about not getting enough balls thrown his way tells me that his stats and money might possibly be slightly more important to him than championships.

I think Finley believes that if he gets three TDs per game, he will win championships. He may be right, but that likely isn't going to happen in Green Bay.

I hope TT figures out a way to keep Finley happy and in Green Bay. I don't see how that's going to happen, but there's a reason why TT is the best GM in the game....he's pretty good at what he does.

One more thing: Finley strikes me as the kind of fellow who could become a HUGE distraction if you decide to franchise him.
Of course Finley wants the football. Everybody wants the football. Finley's downfall is he probably talks a bit more than he should whether its via twitter or whatever. Other than that, I see no reason to shy away from giving him the big contract he deserves. That kid is a mismatch every single game. Just because he doesn't have 10 catches a game doesn't mean he isn't making a significant impact. I guarantee you that opposing defenses scheme specifically for Finley, which in turn opens up the field for other receivers.
You guys are missing the point by focusing on the status quo. Remember when James Jones wasn,t getting any passes? MM said his time would come. It has. Finley's time will come allowing him to show his skills and allowing him to put up huge numbers.
quote:
Originally posted by cuqui:
Nice point here by Andrew Brandt:

quote:
@adbrandt: NFL teams with highest paid running back (Peterson) and highest paid receiver (Fitzgerald) have both won one game this season.
It may be more accurate to correlate the losses to: NFL teams that have lost a HoF caliber QB in recent years...
Not that FF is the end all be all but Finley is ranked 5th overall in total points for the TE position. I was suprised to see that because outside of a couple of games this year I can't recall them really featuring him in the offense.

I really don't know where things will end up long term, but if they can keep him I'd prefer it because I think his presence alone causes defenses to play much differently and he's such a threat in the red zone.

However, if his behavior and attitude goes south (always a possibility) then I agree that it's not like Thompson hasn't prepared us for the moment if Finley walks.

I have a feeling that some team out there could throw a ton of money at the guy and it might not be GB.
quote:
Originally posted by YATittle:
Why isn't Finley more of a target in the red zone? One TD there, but other times when we settled for field goals he didn't seem to be used.

His drops the previous week might have had something to do with it. One was a TD that he dropped. The other was a drive-ending drop. But then GB had 4 of those in the second half last week.

Finley complains when he doesn't get opportunities. But then can be inconsistent when he does. The route running and such aren't the problem. It is his head. His head could be the difference between the HOF and just being another good football player. It is up to him.

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