Is Finnegan Done?

[Ramifications]

or did he just have a lingering ouchie/boo boo from 2012?

per the request in the Tim Walton Out thread to creat a new thread dedicated to this question.

The Rams cited the eye orbital fracture for shutting him down, but of course that wouldn't explain why he looked so terrible BEFORE the eye injury.

Allegedly (not from me) many radio personalities speculated that a leg injury could have carried over from the previous year, I don't recall reading this a lot, but don't listen to talk radio.

What are the chances he is back, that he is back starting, and if so, what kind of a restructure would be in order?

Will his history with Fisher and Williams play a meaningful role on whether he is "brought back", or will it be predicated on and dicated by his appallingly bad 2013 season, in which, with all due respect, he was stealing from the Rams?

IMO, the Rams need to create more salary cap space breathing room, Finnegan, Dahl and Wells are the most obviously vulnerable, but with Finnegan making the most by far, and doing the worst last season by far, he is by far the most likely to get the axe, history or not.

 

[mr.stlouis]

Rams tend give any player they have multiple chance before letting them go. I'm not sure Finnegan is gone, though I agree with you. Same goes for Wells and Dahl. I'm not writing off any player as "cut bait" until it's official. Nothing would surprise me. "We do not make moves based off of injury" keeps ringing in my ear. All three mentioned have been injured. So IDK...

 

[rhinobean]

Since we're the youngest team in the nfl, we should stay the course and draft for his and Wells and Dahl's position so as to replace them with quality guys now! JMO!

 

[Ramifications]

Rams tend give any player they have multiple chance before letting them go. I'm not sure Finnegan is gone, though I agree with you. Same goes for Wells and Dahl. I'm not writing off any player as "cut bait" until it's official. Nothing would surprise me. "We do not make moves based off of injury" keeps ringing in my ear. All three mentioned have been injured. So IDK...

Thanks for the feedback. That is one of the questions I'm trying to answer. Was he injured before the eye injury? Because if not, he looked done BEFORE that.

 

[mr.stlouis]

Thanks for the feedback. That is one of the questions I'm trying to answer. Was he injured before the eye injury? Because if not, he looked done BEFORE that.

As bad as he was playing I'd like to say yes. It's a good question for JT.

 

[BonifayRam]

 

[MauiBoi808]

I Really Hope Barret Jones Will Be A Stud A Center....As For Finnegan I Hope We Keep Him Just Re-New His Deal

 

[CGI_Ram]

I can't believe how quickly he fell off performance-wise.

He might be back, somewhere, at a reduced salary... But wow! He's got some work to do.

 

[bwdenverram]

I think he was injured last year but played through it. Or so I've heard and read. Don't know if it's true. But it would certainly effect his play.
He may be a better nickel back at this point than a starting CB. But for the right price he may be worth bringing back (if healthy and can get it back or close to 2012).
Amazing how far he fell off. You would think it was due to something other than just a year older.

 

[Yamahopper]

Nothing wrong with bringing him back with a contract the Rams can step away from if he doesn't make the 53.
But to count on him again being a NFL CB without proving he still can would be stupid.

 

[-X-]

If he clears medical and Fisher wants him back ... Demoff will make it work.

 

[DR RAM]

I think he makes too much $ in the scheme of things, but I also believe that he was trying to play hurt all season. If he comes back healthy, and can prove to cover guys the likes of Bailey and Austin in camp, then i welcome him back. Either way, I am looking for a cheaper, younger, version of him in the draft at some point.

 

[Ramifications]

Burnt pieces of toast everywhere resent that comparison.

 

[Ramifications]

I think he was injured last year but played through it. Or so I've heard and read. Don't know if it's true. But it would certainly effect his play.
He may be a better nickel back at this point than a starting CB. But for the right price he may be worth bringing back (if healthy and can get it back or close to 2012).
Amazing how far he fell off. You would think it was due to something other than just a year older.

Part of me would like nothing more than for him to recapture his form in TEN (don't have to draft a CB, though he would be close to 30?). But if that was at a cost of not restructuring (i realize not the anticipated scenario, but just hypothetically), I've sort of moved on in terms of allocating that money in other ways. If we couldn't get all that money off the books, he would be precluded from several other moves. I think he makes more than everybody but Bradford in 2014, including cornerstones Chris Long and Laurinaitis on defense.

 

[psxpaul]

I would try to re-sign him at a much cheaper deal. Let him compete in camp, but if he doesn't beat out McGee I would cut him. Veteran salaries are not guaranteed unless they are on the roster at the start of the season, IIRC.

 

[Ramifications]

I thought whether he was injured is potentially important in the sense that if he wasn't, hard to interpret that any way other than he is done. We might surmise that Fisher could know the answer to this question. We shouldn't assume he will be sentimental and his judgement will be clouded. Though Finnegan might have not let on about the eye, so the possibility could exist he kept other things to himself?

Good point, it can be tricky navigating through the maze of possibilities involved in personnel decisions, when bonuses need to be paid BEFORE we get to see him. But UNLESS we get to see him, we might not want to pay the bonus. I would prefer to err on the side of caution and conservatism here, and in the absence of proof to the contrary that he could be done, IMO no way should a bonus be paid. Maybe if he doesn't like his chances on the open market, he rips up his contract and agrees to a cheaper one with STL.

How does that work with salary cap implications? If they honor his existing contract, it is stupidly prohibitively expensive. If he is cut (and maybe there are better and worse times to maximize cap savings?), that affords a lot of cap relief this year, not sure if that extends into the future or is just relevant to 2014, and is than fully off the books. But what about the limbo state and half measure of a restructure. Does that just disappear the old contract salary impications in lieu of the new ones, in the same way as if we just cut him outright?

I agree, he was a physical player that always played with a chip on his shoulder, like we might expect out of a low pedigree pick from football factory Samford. Add to that the fact that TEN under Fisher was a more physical team than some, and he may have had a hard lot and been more excessively shopworn than most his age, and at this point chewed up and spit out. Safety Michael Griffin had been beat up at times in the same secondary and a similar age.

 

[shaunpinney]

I'm hoping that there were some big injury issues last season, he didn't perform relative to his wage slip, but then again, in saying that I think others on the roster need performance related pay scales...

 

[brokeu91]

One thing I was wondering. If we do bring him back, likely at a reduced salary, could he be converted to a FS? Anneas Williams was an excellent FS when he came to St. Louis. Maybe, Finn could fill that role, one which we really need filled