Agent: Jermichael Finley Would "Love" to Finish Career in Green Bay
Blake Baratz told the New York Post as such in a recent article published Thursday.
The agent for Green Bay Packers tight end Jermichael Finley talked to the New York Post in an article published on Thursday, in which he had to say the following:
“Right now he is a Packer and I know he would love to play his entire career there,’’ Finley’s agent, Blake Baratz, said in an email to The Post. “For the next five weeks or so they have his exclusive negotiation rights. If it doesn’t work out in Green Bay for whatever reason then I believe there are a number of teams that could use a talent like Jermichael.’’
Predictably, Finley's agent is trying to boost his client's stock as much as possible, but his injury will play a big part in how much teams value the tight end.
Last week, Finley said it was 99.9 percent that his doctor clears him for football, but just as we've seen with Nick Collins, it doesn't much matter what one personal doctor thinks or says. All that matters is if the doctor of any team willing to sign Finley clears him.
The Packers have taken their sweet time on players that suffer serious neck injuries, such as Collins, Sean Richardson and Terrance Murphy. It seems unlikely they'll be willing to draw a conclusion on Finley by the time free agency starts in early March.
Forced to guess, the Packers will probably be willing to allow Finley to test the open market, and if he's still around by the time of the draft, they'll take the time to closely evaluate his medical condition and come to a conclusion on how they'd like to proceed. In the article, a connection was drawn between Finley and his former position coach in Green Bay, Ben McAdoo, who's now the offensive coordinator of the New York Giants.
Comments (25)
February 06, 2014 at 11:31 am
The chances of Finley returning to GB were slim even if he had never been injuried. The neck injury has made GB's decision an easy one.
Even now, (six years later), everything about Finley is still PR hype. He's not a top-tier TE. Never has been, never will be.
February 06, 2014 at 11:37 am
I wonder if Finley's son is 99.9% on him returning to the NFL.
from the JS blog after his concussion in week 3:
On talking to his son after the game: "When I came back to reality, when I came to my senses and got my balance and my vision back, I picked up my phone. Of course my wife called like 30-plus times, seriously. And first of all, she put my little man on the phone and he asked me if there was a flight I could catch out during the game. And he said, 'Daddy I don't want you to play football anymore.' So that was a little hard to take, hearing a 5-year-old just knowing the violence and intensity of the game. And seeing his Dad walk off the field like he did is pretty hard for a family to see."
then a few weeks later he has a serious spinal injury that nearly paralyzes him from the neck down -- and now he's ready to play again.
i understand these guys have a passion for the game, and it may be medically reasonable for him to return at some point, but i just don't get how you sell that to your little boy. i think even kids know all the x-box games in the world aren't worth your father spending the rest of his life in a mouthpiece-operated wheelchair.
i really do wish him the best, but it baffles me.
February 06, 2014 at 06:44 pm
Its about Finley's desire to play, not so much his son's desire for him not to play. I Understand his son can exert some influence, but a 5 yr old son is very emotional and is reacting in that way. Once cooler heads take over and the emotion fades you can make a more informed and objective decision. Finley certainly seems to want to play and really that's what matters. BTW Finley doesn't have to play either. He has a 10M insurance policy in case an injury ends his career, so the NEED part of the equation is pretty much moot. Its all about the WANT to play for him.
February 06, 2014 at 03:47 pm
I think he already did.
February 06, 2014 at 04:53 pm
Well stated.
February 06, 2014 at 04:17 pm
sorry to get off topic here, but any way we can somehow ban ads for nail fungus cures? i know you're gonna say 'those ads are personalized from your browsing history,' or something, but i think it's playing off the packers' colors and thinking that our interest in green and yellow means we're in need of treatment.
seriously, i think they got that picture at a morgue because there's no way any living person would allow that to go on.
if you have no idea what i'm talking about, just enjoy the blissful ignorance.
February 06, 2014 at 05:17 pm
Lol...that really cracked me up.
February 06, 2014 at 09:32 pm
Velly intellesting. I will say this: Have you seen some of the tumors that people have surgically removed? Some of them weigh hundreds of lb.-people do crazy stuff, man.
February 06, 2014 at 05:13 pm
What happens to his 10 million insurance policy if his own doctor passes him fit to play
February 07, 2014 at 06:28 pm
Pretty sure that unless he is cleared by an NFL team doctor he will be awarded the entirety of the policy.
February 06, 2014 at 06:15 pm
I think since we now have a damn good running game we should target some TE's who specialize in run blocking. Quarless and Bostik are decent receiving TE's. I don't believe the Pack need a standout TE.
February 06, 2014 at 06:49 pm
I don't think they need a TE either, except if Quarless and Finley don't return. IMO TE is down the list of needs quite a way. Lacy and the run game will have more of an impact on the LB's and Safeties than a TE ever would. Be nice to have a great receiving TE to add to the passing game, but hardly essential. I would be more than comfortable going into the season w/ Quarless and Bostic as the main TE in a time share.
February 06, 2014 at 07:42 pm
I would be good with Quarless he can catch the ball, Bostick is a project but has the size.
February 07, 2014 at 08:23 pm
I wouldn't. We need to give #12 weapons. Neither Quarless or Bostick are anything more than serviceable. I would like to see a FA acquisition at TE. Or hell, even a trade.
From an offensive standpoint, the only position in need of seriously bolstering is TE.
And at the same token, I don't want to see GB use a high draft choice at TE, given the ridiculous amount of holes on our defense.
Ted needs to get creative to fill this gap. I will be pissed if the solution is a late round "project". We need to win NOW.
February 07, 2014 at 09:44 pm
Having a top ranked running game w/ Lacy will more than offset losing a TE. What do you thing will influence the Safeties and LB more? A strong running game ore a TE? Seems pretty basic to me. I'll give Quarless and Bostic a year to see how they fair, while Lacy is commanding the attention of every Defense the Packers face. Maybe use a 3rd on a WR or TE that can develop a la Finley/Nelson.
In the end the best weapon you can give a franchise QB is a franchise RB and a strong Defense!
February 06, 2014 at 09:41 pm
Quarless earned a shot to stick around towards the end of this season IMO.
February 07, 2014 at 08:24 pm
He earned a position as a back-up TE. Nothing more. Lets not get confused here. Guy was ok, not good and certainly not great.
February 07, 2014 at 09:48 pm
Quarless hasn't proven he can be a great TE, but he's earned a shot to be the starting TE IMO.
February 07, 2014 at 12:53 am
It's kind of a bunmmer because a lot of Wisconsin players have signed with him over the years, but Blake Baratz is a terrible agent.
First he publicly questions Aaron Rodgers while representing multiple Packers players, and now he's allowing Jermichael Finley to publicly state that he's looking for a ton of money and won't accept any sort of discount. Now the two things that stand out for NFL teams looking at Jermichael Finley are 1.) He's coming off an incredibly serious injury and 2.) He's very expensive.
Not a very good combination to have trying to negotiate during free agency.
February 07, 2014 at 08:14 am
You don't understand a thing about negotiating do you?
February 07, 2014 at 08:44 am
Oh please enlighten me. I'd love for you to try to begin to explain to me how "injured and expensive" is appealing.
February 08, 2014 at 01:51 pm
Apparently you didn't read my comment. I didn't say a thing about Finley, his being injured or his being expensive. I was talking about NEGOTIATING. When negotiating you start high and move down as needed. How does it help anyone in negotiating to come out and say your willing to take less, or give a hometown discount? It doesn't help in any way. Just costs money in the end. It can only lower your final number.
February 09, 2014 at 12:47 am
Yeah of course you start high and work down, but within good reason. You can't over negotiate.
When an NFL agent negotiates with a particular team, in this case Baratz negotiating with the Packers, the leverage on either side is usually derived from the value of the market.
Finley has already said he wants a lot of money next season. It's very easy for the Packers to say take our offer or leave it because Finley isn't going to get a huge offer on the open market based on his injury. Thus the Packers have the upper hand in the negotiations.
Furthermore, there are other tight ends on the market that teams with enough cap space will go after such as Jimmy Graham and Dennis Pitta.
February 08, 2014 at 01:26 pm
I would be thrilled hear that Rodgers adjusted his contract $ so Pack could afford Jimmy Graham.
Evan
February 08, 2014 at 01:34 pm
Ha. Sure. But Graham will never hit the open market.