There have been a number of rumors swirling around the Green Bay Packers lately—some more realistic than others. We're here to examine all the latest rumors, find out where they came from, and determine how likely each one is to come good.
Larry Fitzgerald to the Packers?
It's pretty obvious where this rumor came from—there was absolutely zero mention of it until ESPN decided to splash a "what if?" scenario on their main NFL page. We'll save you the time—it's not happening. The Packers have zero interest in Fitzgerald, and the proposed trade scenario ESPN came up with (Fitzgerald for Green Bay's 2014 No. 2 draft choice, Johnathan Franklin and Jordy Nelson) was hilariously awful.
There are a few teams chasing Fitzgerald, and it sounds like if he does move anywhere (which is highly unlikely in itself), it would be to New England, not Green Bay.
Probability: 0.0001%
When will Jermichael Finley play again?
Update 10:13 p.m. 10/23 - CBS Sports is reporting that Finley will likely be put on the season-ending injured reserve list.
There's been a lot of speculation following Finley's spine injury—in the day after the game, we heard everything from "four weeks" to "never again". We're still waiting to hear the results of Finley's medical tests, but everything we've heard out of Green Bay in the last 48 hours indicates that Finley will return to football...at some point.
The big question right now is whether or not Finley will require surgery in order to get back on the playing field, and how long that surgery would keep him out. It looks more and more like surgery is mandatory, and according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, it's likely that Finley's bruised spinal cord was the result of a herniated disk. This would make surgery a requirement, but Finley would likely be able to return next season at full strength.
Still, there are a few more serious (but less likely) issues that could have been responsible for the spinal bruise, and some—like stenosis or a torn or stretched ligament—could end Finley's career. We'll know more when Finley's tests come back, but until then, here's when we'd expect Finley to return:
This year: 10%
Next year: 80%
Never: 10%
When will Sean Richardson come back?
Richardson, a safety out of Vanderbilt, was signed by the Packers as an undrafted free agent last season. A herniated disk ended his season prematurely last year, but after undergoing neck surgery he's expected to become available in the near future.
Fusion surgery on two vertebrae kept Richardson sidelined up until this week, but on Wednesday doctors cleared Richardson to return to football. He'll need plenty of time to get back up to game speed, but he's a big, physical player who could provide badly-needed depth to Green Bay's secondary. It's unlikely that he'd return against the Vikings this week or the Bears next week, but he could be back soon after. The game in New York against the Giants on Nov. 17 would be a perfect opportunity to get Richardson back into the rotation.
Nov. 10 vs Philadelphia: 25%
Nov. 17 @ New York Giants: 50%
Nov. 24 vs Minnesota: 25%
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