Apparently so, and for good reason as NBCSports.com's Pro Football Talk started speculation when news of a mystery shopper surfaced:
"We’ve speculated that Finley visited the Patriots on Friday, given that the team that hosted him insisted on silence — which is something the Patriots typically do."
Their suspicions being confirmed by many sources on Monday afternoon:
#Patriots had TE Jermichael Finley in for a visit, per sources. @ProFootballTalk pegged timeline here: http://t.co/RYgl9SwEqE
— Adam Caplan (@caplannfl) June 2, 2014
Finley is coming off neck surgery but he figures to have some suitors - including the Packers, who have expressed a level of interest in bringing him back into the fold - but obviously not the Seahawks any longer, as them closing the door on Finley so abruptly and without having their team doctors re-examine him is compelling.
Seahawks' team physicians failed him back in late March when they examined him, and perhaps the docs had expressed their anxiety over the fact that one good shot - and not necessarily to the head or neck - could mean life in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
It can be weakly argued that Peyton Manning has the same surgery to vertebrae slightly lower on the spinal column, but he also sat out an entire year and plays a position that, while there is potential to receive a life-altering hit, it is far more likely for a receiver to take one.
Of course, no word has emerged from Gillette Stadium to confirm or deny the visit, which is par for the course for the secretive Bill Belichick and the Patriots' organization - though the thought of a veteran pass catcher with Finley's size (6' 5", 250 pounds) and resume is intriguing, and just the thought of the Patriots meeting with him under cloak of secrecy makes it even more so.
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