Patriots had Jermichael Finley visit for medical reasons?
By Bryan Rose
When the New England Patriots brought in Jermichael Finley this past Friday, the assumption was that they were looking to sign the former Pro Bowl talent. And while that’s an understandable sentiment and one that may ring true, there wasn’t much of a workout as Finley apparently visited the Patriots for pure medical reasons.
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“Hearing Jermichael Finley visit to Patriots was exclusively for medical evaluation of his spinal fusion surgery,” says Ed Werder of ESPN.
The Patriots have been in the market for an additional tight end for a while, working out fellow free agent Dustin Keller twice in recent weeks who, like Finley, is coming off what many considered at the time to be a career threatening injury.
Neither player comes without risk, though you’re unlikely to find a better secondary tight end than Finley or Keller when healthy, so it’s understandable why the Patriots are showing interest in both players as both would fill the ‘move’ tight end position very well assuming they’re completely recovered from their injuries.
As far as other interest in Finley, there hasn’t been much noise. The Seattle Seahawks were the first team to show interest in the tight end, though apparently lost interest after he failed his physical earlier in free agency. Finley’s former team, the Green Bay Packers have also been rumored to seek a reunion though there hasn’t been much stated publicly about the two sides potentially meeting in the future.
I’d venture to guess that if the Patriots felt comfortable with what they saw, they’d likely bring Finley back for a second evaluation with more field activities included, much like they did Keller.