Jermichael Finley: Will the Green Bay Packers Franchise Tag Finley?

While many may expect the Green Bay Packers to use their franchise tag on tight end Jermichael Finley, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's Tom Silverstein thinks it might not be the best idea.

The franchise tag for tight ends next season will pay $5.5 million, which will make the 24-year-old Finley the league's 11th highest paid player at the position. His numbers over the past few seasons show that he deserves far more money that that. If the Packers do use the tag on him, Silverstein isn't confident that Finley would show up for offseason workouts or play up to his full potential in 2012.

If Finley hits the free agent market he'll likely be the top tight end available and I'm sure tons of teams would be lining up to grab him. That means Green Bay probably doesn't have much of a choice and must tag him to ensure that he doesn't walk away. That said, the Packers should still be trying to work out a long-term deal with the Texas product.

Finley had far too many drops this season (13 in 17 games), but he also had 55 receptions for 767 yards and eight touchdowns. He missed most of 2010 after a suffering a season-ending knee injury in the fifth game of the season. 

In 2009 he played in 13 games and caught 55 passes for 676 yards and five scores. When you consider how many receiving targets the Packers have and how well quarterback Aaron Rodgers spreads the ball around, those numbers are fantastic.

While Finley did struggle with drops this year, he is still very young and will be entering just his fifth NFL season in the fall. The Packers need to sign him to a long-term deal as soon as possible. If that means tagging him, then continuing to negotiate during the offseason, so be it.

Green Bay simply can't afford to let Finley walk away.