Time For JMike to Go Bye Bye
It's time for the Packers and Jermichael Finely to part ways.
By JohnRehor
It's time.
No matter how talented Jermichael Finely is, no matter how much he may add to the offense, and no matter what the price tag is, it's time for the Green Bay Packers and Jermichael Finley to sever ties.
Since arriving in Green Bay, he has been touted as the next best thing. A freakish athlete with speed and size, he adds a dimension to the offense most NFL teams would love to have. With an MVP quarterback in Aaron Rodgers throwing to him, Finely, with all of his talent, should be able to take over games and dominate from the tight end position the same way Tony Gonzalez has for years.
Right? Wrong. Absolutely wrong.
Talent doesn't make you able to catch the ball (although it should by definition), as Finley has proven over and over and over. A Packers game just isn't complete without Finley dropping a pass during a crucial time of the game.
Talent doesn't make you blame others for your own failure to meet expectations in the offense. Finley has now said that there was a lack of chemistry between him and Aaron Rodgers not once but twice in the past six months.
Talent doesn't prevent someone from keeping their mouth shut on social media outlets. By using his Twitter account as a medium to voice whatever he wants he often comes across as ridiculous. And let's not forget the annual "I'm quitting Twitter to focus on football" announcement, which should be coming soon.
Most of all, talent does not make you able to admit your own shortcomings. By constantly blaming others for his own failures, Finley comes across as childish, unable to admit that he needs to do a better job. Case in point:
"It takes two people to do that. And I need the quarterback on my side, and I need to catch the ball when he throws it to me. So it takes two things to get that going, the chemistry. I feel we need to get that going.”
Honestly Jermichael, shut up.
Finley will never, EVER meet the expectations placed on him by the fans in Green Bay. His constant complaining about everyone other than the person that should be blamed-himself-has grown stale. He may be a freakish athlete, but his talent level is not meeting expectations, and that is why he should go bye bye.
If I was Ted Thompson, I'd be putting Finely on the trading block today. With a cheap price tag (2 years/$15 million) finding a trading partner should be pretty easy to find.
I know what some of you will be thinking: "But he's such an important part of the offense." Remember this-the Packers won a Super Bowl without him and his seemingly never ending antics. They can win another one without him.
Comments (23)
October 11, 2012 at 06:33 am
Time to start DJ Williams and not look back. Does his job, no Twitter antics. I fail to see the attraction with Finley any longer
October 11, 2012 at 06:42 am
It'd be interesting to see what he could bring in return, a 2nd string RB and a late round draft pick?
We've also got Quarless coming back hopefully soon after Week 6.
October 11, 2012 at 06:56 am
Jermichael Finley with just one year left on a contract would get back a 5th round pick at best, in a midseason trade, that goes down to 6th rounder.
NFL teams don't get seemingly fair value when they trade players because draft picks are like gold. Unless you're dealing with the Oakland Raiders (of old).
If the Packers truly wanted to trade JMike (they don't), they wouldn't do it to get value back, they'd just be doing it to dump him (which they don't want to do).
Jayme Snowden
October 11, 2012 at 09:03 am
I highly doubt that Quarless is going to be ready immediately after week 6.
If I was a betting woman, I'd put money on him sitting the rest of the year.
But even if he does return, when was the last time he played.
I think the discussion of getting rid of Finley is valid, but I don't think Quarless is a viable or realistic option.
October 11, 2012 at 10:32 am
Last update on Quarless I could find was from Rob Demovsky on 9/24. Check out page 4, but it sounds promising. http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20120924/PKR01/120924062/Not...
October 11, 2012 at 06:52 am
Couldn't agree more! I am always amazed by people who do not do their jobs always being the ones to complain the loudest. It is apparent that JMike, (I like that reference), is never going to do the right thing, and shut up and do his job! I for one am tired of cringing everytime the ball is thrown in his direction. I would gladly give him, (and his twitter account), up for a good RB!
October 11, 2012 at 06:52 am
This is so aggravating. Seriously. If this team were 4-1 (correct call in SEA and don't blow a big lead in Indy), this would've never been written. No one would be saying this. Find somewhere better to place the blame on a 2-3 start folks.
You don't just bail on talent, at the age of 25. DJ Williams (age 24) is an H-back, who will do a good job of catching out routes and stick routes, but he is not going to go down the middle of the field 25 yards and leap above 3 dudes and get knocked around like Finley does. DJ Williams would be a far below average starting NFL tight end. Finley gets a bad rap for "dropping" those balls, but he's also subject to the most difficult passes A-Rod makes (inherently going to be a lower completion %) because when A-Rod is in a pinch and needs to get rid of the ball (something he's sucked at lately), he trusts Finley that much more to go up and at least make a play on a desperately thrown ball. Have you seen how James Jones has reacted to some poorly thrown balls this year? INTs.
Regardless of the play on the field, people need to get real about the "Twitter antics" and quotes he makes. It's the Green Bay Packers. Everything a player does is local frontpage news. If Finley were in New York, he wouldn't even be on the radar in terms of interesting quotables. God forbid a Packer has a personality. They're professional grown men, the locker room can handle it. I'm sure if Aaron wanted him gone, he would've been gone last off-season.
JohnRehor
October 11, 2012 at 06:58 am
You're right, we should just look past the fact that Finley consistently drops passes, consistently makes himself look stupid in the press by making asinine comments, and consistently underperforms. Because he's got talent.
And sure, some of the blame can be placed on Rodgers, who is clearly off at the start of the season for some reason. But does Rodgers throwing a ball right into Finley's hands, only to have him drop it, rest on Rodgers? Absolutely not. It's Finley's job to catch the ball.
He's talented-a head scratching talent. And at some point you have to weigh the pros and cons of having a loud mouth, underperforming, cannot ever point the finger at himself on your team and decide if he's worth keeping around. In my opinion, it's not.
October 11, 2012 at 07:03 am
Agree that he's "underperformed". But underperformed what? The fans' expectations after seeing him go beast mode on the Arizona Cardinals in a playoff game.
Now we fans see what Gronk and Graham did last year and say "Wow Finley's as good as them he should do that too". Well maybe he isn't. Maybe he is the 10th best TE in the league. And we should learn to live with it, instead of clamoring for his backup to get snaps so we can be underwhelmed by a lack of athleticism at the position like we were so annoyed with watching Bubba Franks and Donald Lee all those years.
The grass isn't always greener.
JohnRehor
October 11, 2012 at 07:09 am
DJ Williams is a Finley clone-how about give him a chance? Crabtree can actually catch and run-has proven that. Can also block, a plus for a TE. Quarless coming back. Lot of TEs to keep on the roster, and like I've said, Finley may be a athletic freak, but the Packers have more than enough guys who can pick up the slack.
October 11, 2012 at 07:16 am
Crabtree has improved, I'll give you that, but do you think he'll really ever be a capable stat-producing starting TE? No.
Quarless may not ever reach his potential due to injuries.
And DJ Williams is only a marginal clone; yes, in terms of his pass catching prowess relative to lack of interest in blocking (why we have guys like Crabtree). Speed-wise I think they're similar, but Finley is 6'5", Williams is 6'2".
JohnRehor
October 11, 2012 at 07:28 am
Height shouldn't be the determining factor. Shorter, yes, but it's close enough. And who knows how good Crabtree could be when he's targeted so little. But when he gets thrown at, he's produced. You're right about Quarless re: his injuries, which is too bad, but if he can come back, he's another viable option.
That's my whole point, there are plenty of guys currently on the roster who can do just as good a job as Finley has.
October 11, 2012 at 07:41 am
"Just as good a job" is debatable, consistency-wise yes, but upside/big play ability, no way.
I won't rabble on anymore. We could all just use something more positive to rabble about I think.
JohnRehor
October 11, 2012 at 08:09 am
Fair enough. Good rabble though
October 13, 2012 at 12:42 pm
"Now we fans see what Gronk and Graham did last year and say “Wow Finley’s as good as them he should do that too”. Well maybe he isn’t. Maybe he is the 10th best TE in the league."
Frankly, it's FINLEY that's tried to make the comparisons. Remember his and his agent's rabble about arguing he should be treated as a WR if the Packers tagged him? Or the rabble by FINLEY himself about how he thought he was as good as Gronk, could have numbers like his and he would have to go out and do it? I personally don't care if any of the players run around babbling nonsense or talk tough. But if they do and they don't hold up their end of the nonsense, I will mercilessly eviscerate them later. They can't cry about it--because they don't get to say whatever they want and then get to say it without consequence.
Here's the bottom line: If he doesn't want to be criticized for poor play, play better. If he doesn't like getting criticized for what he says, he should say nothing. I have never set my expectations for Finley based on what he did in 1 playoff game 3 years ago. I set my expectations based on what I SEE and HEAR. If I SEE a ball right in his hands and he drops it, he gets criticized. This isn't Pop Warner, so whether it's "hard to catch a football" or that "Well, you can't do it" is irrelevant. He's a professional, is paid as such and should be expected to perform as such. If I HEAR him saying "I want to be paid like a WR" and "I'm as good as any TE" (paraphrased), then I'm not sure how expecting him to perform like one is unreasonable.
October 13, 2012 at 12:12 pm
"If this team were 4-1 (correct call in SEA and don’t blow a big lead in Indy), this would’ve never been written. No one would be saying this."
Uh, *I* would. I've BEEN saying this since last year. (Much to the annoyance, I'm sure of my followers on Twitter). I've no patience for him. HE'S the one that made himself out to be a top-tier TE and failed to be one. Therefore, HE'S the one that needs to accept the criticism results.
October 11, 2012 at 09:24 am
"Good rabble though." Great quote John!
After reading your story and the "rabble." I agree with Michael's argument. Finley can be extremely frustrating and somehow the drops have to stop but the Packers can't just get rid of him. He add's an extra dimension to our offense. Has he provided that dimension thus far this year? No. But our offense has vastly underachieved this season. I also don't think DJ Williams is a Jermichael clone, not even close as far as what we've seen. Quarless may be closer to JMike talent wise but I don't think we'll see him this year either. As far as Jermichael's personality, it's an eyeroll thing for me. Yes, he says some goofy things but the man wants to win and wants to be a Packer. Sure the Packers may split with Jermichael at some point at an end of contract or dispute over salary but I doubt the Packers would ever look to trade him just to rid themselves of him. He's just too good even with the drops.
October 11, 2012 at 12:52 pm
I agree, it's time for Jermichael to go somewhere else, since he can't stop complaining.
The Pack will be fine without him, and maybe the other receivers will rally around Aaron.
He needs to shut up and not be so full of himself!
JohnRehor
October 12, 2012 at 08:01 am
Thanks Cindy. Completely agree. He needs to just shut up and do his job. If he did the first one better, his little comments would get much less attention than they currently do.
October 11, 2012 at 04:47 pm
I love ya, John, but I respectfully disagree. Jermichael is young and immature, not a bad person. Perhaps you're completely right (strong possibility), but I wouldn't give up on him just yet. That's just me.
JohnRehor
October 12, 2012 at 08:00 am
The dropsies, the diarrhea of the mouth-it's just too much drama surrounding one player for my liking and why I'd look to move him. But that's why I'm not in charge of the Packers.
October 13, 2012 at 12:52 pm
Personally, I will differ with John in that I don't think the Packers should trade Finley, only because trades don't work like they do in MLB. For the team "giving up" a player, they almost never get in return value that is reasonable.
Besides, we're already 1/3 into the season--no team SHOULD give the Packers anything significant, unless they are right in the race for the playoffs and suffer an injury or need an extra piece. (I can say that Andre Rison and Keith Jackson were fairly significant pieces for the Packers in the Super Bowl run). He should've been moved/cut in the offseason prior to this year or should just not be offered a contract in this upcoming offseason. TT has proven repeatedly his ability to select talent and there's no reason Finley's spot can't be replaced next year.
October 22, 2012 at 03:35 pm
I think that he WANTS to play somewhere else. I say let him go.