Jermichael Finley's career was assumed to be over. The veteran tight end suffered a scary injury last season and underwent the same fusion surgery that Peyton Manning had which kept him off the field for a full year. Finley continued to stress that he would play again and now it appears he might be right. After getting medically cleared, the veteran tight end is taking team visits and could be signed by the end of the week.
Finley's agent, Blake Baratz, went on ProFootballTalk Live to say his client was cleared to play by his neurosurgeon following the spinal cord contusion. Getting clearance from his doctor is the first step in the right direction. However, in order to get signed by a team, Finley must also be cleared by employed team doctors. According to Baratz, that will not be an issue and the tight end has already lined up visits with "mystery teams" this week.
So who could be interested in the tight end? Finley took a visit to the Seattle Seahawks at the start of free agency, but failed the physical and did not get offered a contract. He has also been meeting with the Green Bay Packers about returning to the team. Head coach Mike McCarthy said he and the Packers front office are very open to bringing the tight end back for the offense, but only if he is healthy. They could easily be the mystery team.
The New England Patriots are the favorite to land Finley. They brought in Dustin Keller for a visit, but did not sign him. Right now, Rob Gronkowski is healing from multiple surgeries and stresses that he is on pace to be ready Week 1. However, New England has been in this boat before and it did not work out. Given his injury history, the tight end simply cannot be trusted to stay healthy. Finley would be an excellent addition with or without Gronkowski because he gives quarterback Tom Brady another weapon to work with.
According to SB Nation, the New York Giants are not the team bringing in Finley for a visit. The two sides have been linked together considering the uncertainty with the Giants tight end roster. Adrien Robinson is the current starter and has no catches and two snaps to his name. Daniel Fells sat out last year while Kellen Davis has played six seasons and has just 50 catches. New York could seriously use Finley's talent, but right now they are not showing any interest.
Finley simply needs one team doctor to clear him. If he can get one NFL doctor to say he is healthy then he automatically becomes the best free agent available. Keller claims he is healthy as well, but when it comes down to it, Finley will be picked over him.
