TE Jermichael Finley medically cleared; visiting "mystery" team

As the slow offseason continues, figure I'd pass this along:

Jermichael Finley @JermichaelF88 · 43m
Agent Blake Baratz tells PFT Live that Dr. Maroon has given Jermichael Finley full medical clearance.”Told ya! #IWillRiseAgain

@ProFootballTalk: Finally cleared to play, Jermichael Finley will visit on Friday a team that didn't want to be named (hello, Patriots) http://t.co/0X9QX8wZ6V


https://twitter.com/nfl_atl/status/472065126414426114
@NFL_ATL: Agent: Jermichael Finley to visit mystery team Friday

After Finley met with the Seahawks in March, our money is on the Patriots. WithRob Gronkowski still on the mend from major knee surgery, New England is thin at the position with the underwhelming duo of Michael Hoomanawanui and D.J. Williams leading the charge.

I'd be fine with this if he's fully healthy. He may be a better option at this point than Keller.

Would be perfectly fine with either Finley or Keller, really.

Clever move, I am sure no one will find out.

I am also sure that fans all across the league will be hearing his name called in the airport of their choice.............

patsinthesnow said:

As the slow offseason continues, figure I'd pass this along:

Jermichael Finley @JermichaelF88 · 43m
Agent Blake Baratz tells PFT Live that Dr. Maroon has given Jermichael Finley full medical clearance.”Told ya! #IWillRiseAgain

@ProFootballTalk: Finally cleared to play, Jermichael Finley will visit on Friday a team that didn't want to be named (hello, Patriots) http://t.co/0X9QX8wZ6V


https://twitter.com/nfl_atl/status/472065126414426114
@NFL_ATL: Agent: Jermichael Finley to visit mystery team Friday

After Finley met with the Seahawks in March, our money is on the Patriots. WithRob Gronkowski still on the mend from major knee surgery, New England is thin at the position with the underwhelming duo of Michael Hoomanawanui and D.J. Williams leading the charge.

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Giants also need TE help

Doesn't he drop the ball quite a bit? Whenever I see the Packers he's good for a couple of them.

Still, he would be an upgrade over Williams.

Big-T said:

Doesn't he drop the ball quite a bit?

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Yes.

I would be ok with bringing both Finley and Keller in and the healthier better player wins. Kind of like Fells and Ballard last year with hopefully one of these 2 actually winning a spot. The real bottom line is that without Gronk healthy we will be very much in the same spot as last year.

signbabybrady said:

I would be ok with bringing both Finley and Keller in and the healthier better player wins. Kind of like Fells and Ballard last year with hopefully one of these 2 actually winning a spot. The real bottom line is that without Gronk healthy we will be very much in the same spot as last year.

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I would definitely do that but I don't think they'd go for it. They both probably want a chance to start somewhere.

Please no! We don't need another player with butterfingers yet alone a guy who is so full of himself.

http://www.nfl.com/player/jermichaelfinley/1072/profile

Finley is a top 10-15 TE with top 5 TE upside. He's frustrating with drops but a real talent. Also, Keller turns 30 in September while Finley will be just 27 for the 2014 season. I'd much rather Finley for a little more money as the potential reward is high.

TommyBrady12 said:

Giants also need TE help

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@ConorTOrr: No visits for #Giants scheduled, but it sounds like they've at least reached out to Jermichael Finley. Doesn't hurt to have a chat.

patsinthesnow said:

http://www.nfl.com/player/jermichaelfinley/1072/profile

Finley is a top 10-15 TE with top 5 TE upside. He's frustrating with drops but a real talent. Also, Keller turns 30 in September while Finley will be just 27 for the 2014 season. I'd much rather Finley for a little more money as the potential reward is high.

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Why not both? By their powers combined, we could have Captain Planet!

patsinthesnow said:

Finley is a top 10-15 TE with top 5 TE upside.

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No he's not. He's a starting caliber tight end, but was only ever anything more than mediocre because he had a great QB and a bunch of solid WRs that defenses had to worry about. He's one of those guys like Jared Cook (or our very own Ben Watson) who will have "tremendous upside" until he's 30 and everyone goes whoops, I guess not.

That doesn't mean he wouldn't be an upgrade for the Patriots at the position. It just means he's an average starter and his ceiling has been reached.

Frankly, Keller was a better player for most of his career who was underappreciated because he played on worse offenses and didn't get the "tremendous upside" hype of a guy like Finley or Cook. Both Keller and Finley would be upgrades if they were fully healthy, though.

Mr.Drop? ehhh Give me Keller

Finely is younger than Keller, and both players are good options if healthy. Nate Collins had the same injury as Finely and has not played since 2011 however so I am not sure that just because he is cleared he is going to hold up.

primetime said:

No he's not. He's a starting caliber tight end, but was only ever anything more than mediocre because he had a great QB and a bunch of solid WRs that defenses had to worry about. He's one of those guys like Jared Cook (or our very own Ben Watson) who will have "tremendous upside" until he's 30 and everyone goes whoops, I guess not.

That doesn't mean he wouldn't be an upgrade for the Patriots at the position. It just means he's an average starter and his ceiling has been reached.

Frankly, Keller was a better player for most of his career who was underappreciated because he played on worse offenses and didn't get the "tremendous upside" hype of a guy like Finley or Cook. Both Keller and Finley would be upgrades if they were fully healthy, though.

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Finely has been a top 15 tight end over the past 5 seasons, you have to consider that the tight end position is not that strong in the NFL once you get past Gronkowski, Graham, Davis, and a few others. You are correct that he benefits from playing with Rodgers and the receivers. Keller is a better player, he is a superior talent physically and fits better in the flex role but he is 3 years older and the knee injury may have slowed him.

Obviously both these guys need to be healthy to be healthy. More importantly return to pre injury form. Many players get cleared to play but have declined talent and don't have the speed/athleticism of pre injury. Keller was faster b4 injuries. Drops are excused if a player consistently gets open and makes catches. Finley cuz of his age is the better option here. Injuries and 30 are a terrible combo. Finley may have been overrated like many patriot WRs due to elite qb play. Teams around the NFL have been wise enough to realize Brady made WRs better. Seattle was the NFL guinea pig on that idea and showed everybody else when they traded for Branch. An OK WR but far from special and made better by Brady.

Unfortunately we are unlikely to find help from castaways. We wanna be known for Revis Island,not Gilligan's island of pass catching castaways. If We really need a te then it is a hole just like WR. We need to give up a draft pick for a wr or even te(least we have a team "IF" gronk stays healthy) then and do it correctly. I mean if were not going to draft any they aren't going to grow off a tree and its unlikely we find a legit starter as an UFA. So if we are gonna play ball with Denver let's do it. I mean we are considered a championship contender mainly because we have a great qb. So we may as well surround him with a quality team thats championship caliber. If Gronk isn't healthy in January who would actually expect to beat Denver or would we hope onced again. Secondly if we had a legit WR we could win games without Gronk and let him get healthy for January rather than rush him back to the field just to win enough games to make the playoffs.

Bring in the healthier one. My dad is a Packers fan, so I witnessed Finley drop multiple passes over the years. Many of them were the head scratchers like Dobson had where there was no one around him. But when he does catch the ball up the seam he's deadly with speed or power. He's a less talented Jimmy Graham I'd say?

All we can do is trust that Belichick and the staff will make the correct decision.

If they feel that he has healed and can offer something, he'll be looked at. I would be excited if either he or Keller were paired with Gronk--no doubt.