The Green Bay Packers have not made a decision on bringing back Jermichael Finley as a free agent and with teams like the NY Giants, New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks, Arizona Cardinals and Atlanta Falcons interested in signing him, the Pack made a move of their own at the position, signing former Oregon tight end Colt Lyerla as an undrafted free agent and now he could be the latest weapon for Aaron Rodgers in the Packers offense.
The Giants are one team that desperately needs a tight end even if they won't admit it and they could sign Finley if the medical reports on him come back clean heading into the summer and training camp. The Giants now have Kellen Davis, Daniel Fells and Adrien Robinson as their main options and they could be the ones to sign Finley. The Seahawks could use some depth at the position with Zach Miller, while Arizona could add Finley behind Rob Housler. The Patriots could use more depth with Rob Gronkowski coming back from another serious injury and Atlanta also could be a fit with Tony Gonzalez retiring.
Lyerla comes out of college with some baggage and that was one reason why he was not drafted in 2014 and now the Packers have added an athletic tight end. Ted Thompson described Lyerla as a first round talent and the team explained that they did their due diligence and that they felt Lyerla's past was not an issue anymore. According to ESPN.com, the team signed Lyerla after a tryout over the weekend and the 6-foot-3, 242-pound tight end comes in after averaging 16.8 yards per catch and catching 11 touchdowns with the Ducks in his final two seasons at Oregon.
Lyerla had his issues and played in just two games this past offseason and before that he played in 15 games over the previous two seasons combined. His best season came in 2012 when he had 25 catches for 392 yards and while he may be a project tight end, he could fit in nicely for the Packers depth wise with Andrew Quarless, who stepped up when Finley went down with a neck injury last season.
The Packers come into the season after going 8-7-1 in the NFC North and they had to deal with an injury to Aaron Rodgers last season and now they are hoping he can remain healthy for the full season. The team ranked in the top 10 in both passing offense and rushing offense by yards per game last season and now they will try and improve a defense that ranked 24th and 25th in passing and rushing yards allowed per game.
