It’s been nearly a month since tight end Jermichael Finley received medical clearance from his personal doctor, Joseph Maroon, who performed Finley’s spinal surgery and also acts as the team doctor for the Steelers. However, just because Finley was cleared by Dr. Maroon, it doesn’t mean that every NFL team is comfortable with the free agent’s health. As Gil Brandt of NFL.com notes (via Twitter), Finley still hasn’t been cleared by Packers doctors, so until that happens, a new deal for the tight end in Green Bay is unlikely.
Here’s more from around the NFC North:
- Don Barclay turned into a full-time starter on the Packers‘ offensive line last season, but it appears he could head into his contract year in 2014 as a reserve, as Weston Hodkiewicz of the Green Bay Press-Gazette details. According to head coach Mike McCarthy, Barclay has “earned the opportunity to compete for a starting position, though the West Virginia alum won’t be upset if he starts the season as the club’s sixth man on the line. Barclay will be eligible for restricted free agency at season’s end.
- Cordarrelle Patterson, seventh-rounder Jabari Price, and the Vikings‘ secondary are topics of discussion in a Monday mailbag from Master Tesfatsion of the Star Tribune.
- In his latest series of pieces, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press will focus on five jobs on the Lions‘ roster that figure to be up for grabs in training camp this summer. The series got underway today with a look at kicker, where seventh-round pick Nate Freese is going up against lefty Giorgio Tavecchio.