The Ball got pimped...

Jermichael Finley staying with the Packers at $8.25M



By [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] of the Journal Sentinel
Updated: 4:37 p.m.

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Green Bay --- Ten minutes after the deadline passed, Jermichael Finley announced the news himself.

The tight end is staying put in Green Bay.

"Ecstatic 2 b back w @packers. Best place on earth," Finley tweeted. "Thank u 2 my agents & family @blakebaratz @Jhart5266. I appreciate all that u do. #pack."

The Packers will pay Finley's $3 million roster bonus due Tuesday and stick to his $8.25 million base salary for 2013.

Recently, one source indicated that the Packers talked to Finley's camp about his contract, uncomfortable with his current salary. Finley and his agent Blake Baratz stuck to the $8.25M number, leaving general manager Ted Thompson and negotiator Russ Ball with a decision to make. And in the end, the Packers stood by their tight end, who turns 26 years old Tuesday.

Riding the second year of a two-year contract he signed last off-season, Finley has the second-highest cap number among all tight ends and the fourth-highest pay (behind Jared Cook, Jason Witten and Vernon Davis). He'll be a free agent after the 2013 season.

Finley certainly helped his cause with a strong finish last season. Plagued by drops and inconsistency early on, he gained momentum late to finish with 61 receptions for 667 yards and two touchdowns. The year prior, Finley had 55 catches for 767 yards and eight scores. As [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], Finley also attracts a ton of attention, which creates opportunities for others.

There were doubts. In mid-December, Finley's future in Green Bay [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. When the off-season began, Finley himself said that a return to Green Bay [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Then, Green Bay's efforts to re-sign free agent wide receiver Greg Jennings further kept Finley [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].

Fuckin' idiots... They had Finley right where they wanted him to close the season and they squandered the opportunity to lock him up long-term while at the same time cutting his CAP number by more than half. Negotiation is primarily about two things: timing and leverage. The albino fuck-nut waited too long and consequently allowed timing to turn from in his decided advantage--to Finley's... The time to move was before Jennings situation was brought to fruition... Now--the odds suggest that Finley will play out his last season and be lost to free agency--undoubtedly after a kick-ass season. This was a fuckin' strong hand played like a bitch to a failed outcome by a weak card player... The $4M paid to Dumervil, for example, could have been free to GB's CAP while locking up Finley long-term...and how nice he would look lined up there with his hand on the ground...

He better play Pro Bowl level TE........or this is a total breakdown in GeeEmming and HeadCoaching. Can't believe this underachieving kid is making this type of money. We still really really need a real real running back. Here's part of the story form the Press Gazette (packersnews.com):

After losing one of their best offensive playmakers in free agency, the Green Bay Packers decided that tight end Jermichael Finley’s $8.25 million in [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and roster bonus this season is not prohibitively expensive.

Finley’s contract made him a potential source for a pay cut this offseason, but the Packers determined that if he’d refused they couldn’t afford to release one of their most talented if also uneven offensive performers after receiver Greg Jennings departed to Minnesota in free agency earlier this month. A source confirmed on Monday afternoon that Finley’s contract went unchanged Monday, so the tight end will receive the $3 million due Tuesday of a $3.5 million roster bonus.

If the Packers weren’t going to pay the bonus, they would have had to release Finley or work out a new contract with him by 3 p.m. CDT Monday. At the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] of the official NFL work day Tuesday, he’s due the bonus.

So after signing inside linebacker Brad Jones to a three-year contract last week and not changing Finley’s deal, the Packers are $20.323 million under the salary cap, according to a source with access to the NFL contract information.

“Ecstatic 2 b back w Packers,” Finley said in a tweet shortly after Monday’s 3 p.m. deadline. “Best place on earth. Thank u 2 my agents & family @blakebaratz @Jhart5266. I appreciate all that u do.”

Though Finley’s $8.25 million contract is high for a player who’s shown more potential than production in his five-year NFL career, Jennings’ signing with Minnesota in free agency on March 16 substantially decreased the odds the Packers would approach Finley for a pay cut. Finley could have refused any overtures knowing the team already had lost Jennings and believing he’d have a decent market among the other 31 teams if the Packers had released him rather than pay the $3 million roster bonus.

The Packers’ decision also signals they’ll be looking for a higher level of performance from Finley, who turns 26 Tuesday, to help make up for Jennings’ loss. Finley caught 61 passes last season, which was [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] high but ranked only 10th among tight ends in the NFL. His average of 10.9 yards a catch was a career low, and he also dropped seven passes, but his play down the season’s stretch (32 receptions for 396 yards in the final seven games) helped convince the Packers to bring him back this year.


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“I think Jermichael has grown up a lot,” coach Mike McCarthy said at the NFL owners meetings last week. “I think he has a lot of growing up to do. You step back, it’s rewarding to see what he’s accomplished, but also it’s because he has so much in front of him. On the field and off the field. He had expectations like we all do get the best of us, I think his individual expectations and then the injury, I really think the bye week he had an opportunity to step away and change some things. He was a different guy. He was focused and productive in the second half of the season.”

Jones’ new contract, signed last week, decreased the Packers’ salary-cap space to $20.323 million. The Packers will need about $4 million to $5 million of that to sign their rookie class this year, and most of the rest probably will go toward contract extensions for quarterback Aaron Rodgers, outside linebacker Clay Matthews and maybe defensive lineman B.J. Raji.

Jones’ new deal averages $3.75 million, which makes him the team’s second-highest paid inside linebacker, behind Desmond Bishop and ahead of A.J. Hawk.

According to a source with access to NFL salary information, Jones’ three-year deal pays him up to $4.5 million this year in the form of a $3 million signing bonus, $1 million salary, $300,000 in weekly roster bonuses and a $200,000 workout bonus. The roster bonus of $18,750 each week is contingent on him being on the active roster on game day.

Bishop is the Packers’ highest-paid inside linebacker at an average of $4.5 million. Hawk’s pay cut earlier this month reduced his yearly average to $3.5 million, and his pay this season was reduced from $5.45 million to $3.6 million.

Jones will make a $2.5 million base salary in 2014 plus the same $300,000 in possible roster bonuses and $200,000 workout bonus. In 2015 his base salary will be $3.25 million plus the same $300,000 in potential roster bonuses and $200,000 workout bonuses combined.

I think Jones got too much. Was he that good? If Perry and Bishop had not been hurt he may have hardly been on the field. Finley will definitely get more balls thrown to him if he stays healthy. It is by simple default with Jennings gone and no more Driver either. And now that Crabtree has moved will we be able to use Quarless in the same role?

My guess is that if Finley has a good start TT will sign him long term in an effort to keep him in green and gold although he is not a devoted Packer like Driver and Hawk. TT knows how to play Monopoly. After he passes GO he will have the cash to sign our draft picks and still have some left over to grab a bargain free agent or two sometime in August.

IN TED WE TRUST

In Ted we trust for What? Milani.......I appreciate your optimish HOWEVER.........let's get Bulaga and Sherrod playing #1 pick football........and a running back that shows it on the field for 19 games at least. This tinker-toying with LBs and Johnny Jolly ain't gonna cut it.

RingoCStarrQB wrote:In Ted we trust for What? Milani.......I appreciate your optimish HOWEVER.........let's get Bulaga and Sherrod playing #1 pick football........and a running back that shows it on the field for 19 games at least. This tinker-toying with LBs and Johnny Jolly ain't gonna cut it.

Don't forget Nick Perry, our other no.1. Just think. Next season you will be seated at the hallowed hall and get to see all the top picks on the field including B.J. and Hawk.

TT has drafted some talented players if they can just stay on the field once they get there. On the other hand you won't get to see the no.1 from before this crop....Justin Harrell. What Sherman could have done with athletes like this! Instead he was stuck with Ahmad Carroll, Torrence Marshall, and B.J. Sander.

Jamal Reynolds..........pffffffffffffffft !!