Jermichael Finley's recent tweet and TT drafting of 2 TE's

[get louder at lambeau]

I think we are making a mountain out of a Twitter molehill. Finley has been in exactly zero serious jams. A bad agent choice (twice) which has been corrected and shooting his mouth off once about the QB and once about a photo. He behaves like Steve Largent compared to TO, Ochocinco or Moss.

T.O. and Ochocinco used to be just like Finley. They had normal names and were normal, hard working, talented receivers with big egos. They became what they are later in their careers. You're glossing over some of Finley's drama, too-

The truth is, Finley was late for about a half-dozen meetings in '09, and he missed curfew the night before the playoff loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

"I walked on the floor, and it was like the FBI looking for me," recalled Finley, who went out the next night and set a franchise playoff record with 159 receiving yards on six catches.

"Just being that young buck, thinking he's all that."

During training camp last summer he left the dorms without permission to sleep in his own bed about 3 miles away.

"(I) was doing my own thing, wanted to take a little break, and they caught on to that," Finley said. "And that was a big, big loss coming into the '09 season. I had that on my back, so I had to come out and play.

"Just being foolish. All the coaches knew. Everybody knew."

Finley also wasn't always straight with the Packers about the reasons for his slipups.

"I'm just one of those people who doesn't tell everybody what I'm doing, so I just tell them what they want to hear," he said. "I was that person."

No one thinks Finley IS T.O. right now. The worry is that he has shown some of the warning signs that he MIGHT BECOME T.O. someday. Even his agent didn't want to take him back, and avoided his calls for more than a week. This from an agent who stands to make 3% of Finley's next contract. That could be near a million dollars if/when Finley gets a long term contract. The guy must be a HUGE pain in the ass for an agent to not want to make that kind of money off him.

[BobDobbs]

I'm going to give a big hell no to that. Thompson (smartly) refused to shell out QB like money for an aging Wahle and big dollars for a quickly diminishing Rivera. Thus far he has refused to give a big extension to the inconsistent Colledge. I will all but guarantee that a young, dominant home grown guard like Sitton gets a big extension. He is exactly the type of player that Thompson signs long term.

Right at first glance it seems like a no brainer. Keep your guy in house and keep the offensive line solid. And that may well happen. To understand my reasoning you have to look at the larger pattern. The reason I don't think that TT feels that Guard is a priority position is not because he didn't resign Wahle or Rivera. I don't think he could have if he wanted to because of where the cap was. It's how he dealt with filling those positions afterwards.

There was the failed Will Whitaker and who ever the other guy was experiment. He basically tried to fill those positions with crappy free agents and mid round picks. I think Colledge was a two, but everyone else in the interior line is a mid round draft pick or street free agent. Look at Tackle where he has kept Clifton and Tauscher in the money and then spent two consecutive first round picks. He's not messing around there.

Successful drafting means a team ends up with more talented veterans than it can pay. He might let Sitton go if he doesn't want to sign a cap friendly deal in order to have the money to sign Finley and then CMIII and Raji the next year.

There's a reason Guards are cheaper than Tackles. They are easier to find and not as important to the success of our football team. Unlike Tight Ends which you build a dynasty around.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Finley: The Right Route

Good article. Not sure how I missed that.

"Green Bay without a doubt is where I want to be, a great town to raise a family for sure, and the fans here are way better than I've ever had. I can see myself here for a long, long time."

"I want fans to feel they can trust me and believe in me," Finley said. "The young, immature Finley, I thought he was foolish. And the new Finley, I think is going to do the work, do what he's supposed to do and be that player the Packers know I can be and all the fans out there too.

[RashanGary]

T.O. and Ochocinco used to be just like Finley. They had normal names and were normal, hard working, talented receivers with big egos. They became what they are later in their careers. You're glossing over some of Finley's drama, too-

Exactly.

No one thinks Finley IS T.O. right now. The worry is that he has shown some of the warning signs that he MIGHT BECOME T.O. someday. Even his agent didn't want to take him back, and avoided his calls for more than a week. This from an agent who stands to make 3% of Finley's next contract. That could be near a million dollars if/when Finley gets a long term contract. The guy must be a HUGE pain in the ass for an agent to not want to make that kind of money off him.

Red flag.




He has drama blow-up potential. No doubt. It's much more than Jennings, Rodgers or Matthews. Much, much more.

I actually feel less comfortable about him after that article. It all tied together like he had his stuff together, but when you read it, it's a bunch of scary actions followed by some empty words.

"I used to tell people what they wanted to hear, but now I"m telling you the truth." "I used to be irresponsible but now I'm telling you I'm responsible, even though I haven't proved it for even a day." "my agent refuses to work with me because he doesn't trust me."

I'm hoping for the best though. He's an elite talent. I just can't bury my head in the sand on his personality profile. He looks like an irresponsible guy (2 kids in college, agent refusing to work with him, hanging out with VY, skipping team meetings, breaking team rules) who wants to get a big contract from the team who owns his rights, "Green bay is the place I want to be, I want to be here for a long time."


I'm not saying he won't be fine. I'm saying there are red flags to go along with his injury concern.


If Matthews is a 9.9 out of 10 likelyhood to get a big 2nd deal from us, Finley is like a 7. He's 70% because he meets 100% of the talent, gets docked 5% for the injury and 25% for his irresponsible, untrustworthy personality.

[Tarlam!]

Have we forgotten that the Barnetts and the Finleys are an item? Rodgers' sucking his dick publicly is nice and all, but Finley is a brother. Nick is as good as gone. That's a huge red flag. I know Brandon is gonna call me a racist, but I'm not. I'm just an observer.

[mraynrand]

"I want fans to feel they can trust me and believe in me," Finley said. "The young, immature Finley, I thought he was foolish. And the new Finley, I think is going to do the work, do what he's supposed to do and be that player the Packers know I can be and all the fans out there too."

The Packers would be unbeatable with both Finleys on the team.

[prime311]

Coincidence or telling statistic?

Finley has 4 100 yard receiving games in his career. 3 of them are losses. The 1 win was a blowout against a terrible Buffalo team.


I like Finley. He is an outstanding player that is exciting on offense and creates major matchup problems. But the excitement about Finley as a player that is fun to watch has not translated to overall offensive success. If I'm a GM with X dollars to spend and a player like Finley who is a potential locker room blowup head case and has injury problems and will likely command Wide Receiver type dollars then I spend my dollars elsewhere.

[prime311]

Right at first glance it seems like a no brainer. Keep your guy in house and keep the offensive line solid. And that may well happen. To understand my reasoning you have to look at the larger pattern. The reason I don't think that TT feels that Guard is a priority position is not because he didn't resign Wahle or Rivera. I don't think he could have if he wanted to because of where the cap was. It's how he dealt with filling those positions afterwards.

There was the failed Will Whitaker and who ever the other guy was experiment. He basically tried to fill those positions with crappy free agents and mid round picks. I think Colledge was a two, but everyone else in the interior line is a mid round draft pick or street free agent. Look at Tackle where he has kept Clifton and Tauscher in the money and then spent two consecutive first round picks. He's not messing around there.

Successful drafting means a team ends up with more talented veterans than it can pay. He might let Sitton go if he doesn't want to sign a cap friendly deal in order to have the money to sign Finley and then CMIII and Raji the next year.

There's a reason Guards are cheaper than Tackles. They are easier to find and not as important to the success of our football team. Unlike Tight Ends which you build a dynasty around.

Not that I disagree about the value of Tackles over Guards, but I'm trusting past history here. Thompson rewards young talent regardless of position and isn't afraid to pay them top dollar for someone at their position. Or to put it succinctly, name the last young and successful Green Bay player at any position that Thompson has let walk in Free Agency. Don't feel bad when you can't think of any.

[pbmax]

Coincidence or telling statistic?

Finley has 4 100 yard receiving games in his career. 3 of them are losses. The 1 win was a blowout against a terrible Buffalo team.


I like Finley. He is an outstanding player that is exciting on offense and creates major matchup problems. But the excitement about Finley as a player that is fun to watch has not translated to overall offensive success. If I'm a GM with X dollars to spend and a player like Finley who is a potential locker room blowup head case and has injury problems and will likely command Wide Receiver type dollars then I spend my dollars elsewhere.

Its neither; its called small sample size.

[prime311]

Its neither; its called small sample size.

Well wouldn't that make coincidence?

[HarveyWallbangers]

How many 100 yard receiving games have we had out of our TEs in team history? Finley's had 3 of them in his last 5 games. I'd hardly blame Finley for the losses. We scored 45 points in one of the games. It's not his fault the defense was sieve-like. In another game, James Jones fumbled late and gifted the game away to the Bears. In the other game, we got sacked 8 times, so perhaps we should have went to Finley underneath more--instead of trying to force the ball down the field.

[HarveyWallbangers]

In eight seasons, Paul Coffman had six career 100 yard receiving games. The Packers went 1-4-1 in those 6 games.

[mraynrand]

Well wouldn't that make coincidence?

Coincident/correlation does not necessarily mean causation. It is a trend

[mraynrand]

In eight seasons, Paul Coffman had six career 100 yard receiving games. The Packers went 1-4-1 in those 6 games.

Paul Coffman is glad you are not his agent!

[pbmax]

T.O. and Ochocinco used to be just like Finley. They had normal names and were normal, hard working, talented receivers with big egos. They became what they are later in their careers. You're glossing over some of Finley's drama, too-



No one thinks Finley IS T.O. right now. The worry is that he has shown some of the warning signs that he MIGHT BECOME T.O. someday. Even his agent didn't want to take him back, and avoided his calls for more than a week. This from an agent who stands to make 3% of Finley's next contract. That could be near a million dollars if/when Finley gets a long term contract. The guy must be a HUGE pain in the ass for an agent to not want to make that kind of money off him.

Except that in the chronology of both TO and Ochocinco, each started off relatively harmless and then went south. They were possibly the best player on the team, but with fading franchises, troubles with the League, contract squabbles, QBs injured or limited, etc. Finley seems headed in the opposite direction. Everything is on the uptick except his health. And as good as he is, he is not the best player on the team (not yet anyway).

Think about his year. Without him, the team won a Super Bowl. A bit more humbling than the accommodating treatment the 49ers and Bengals gave their prima donnas.

If his worst offenses going forward are similar to complaining about team picture timing (which puts him on par with Barnett - whose lead he seemed to follow), I am really unconcerned. While Barnett may not have been everything you ever wanted in a MLB, he was a good teammate and fit for Green Bay even if he wasn't low key like most of his teammates.

Like a lot of modern athletes, he seems to want to succeed across the board, be a good teammate, popular, perhaps cash in on commercials, TV, etc. And while that kind of diversity of priorities would get you docked in draft evaluations, its makes for a pretty motivated and conscientious teammate. Similar to the OLB with a shampoo deal.