St. Louis Rams Cortland Finnegan will likely avoid surgery
St. Louis Rams cornerback Cortland Finnegan (31) reacts to a penalty flag being thrown during a game against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
St. Louis Rams cornerback Cortland Finnegan is usually one of the best corners in the league, and he usually does terrific work as a nickel corner due to his physicality, run defense, blitzing, and overall coverage ability. However, the usually solid corner fell off a cliff in the 2013 season, and the former Tennessee Titans star had what was easily the worst season of his career during his second year with the Rams. Finnegan couldn’t cover at all, and he was part of an awful Rams secondary that needs to be retooled.
Finnegan’s future with the team is murky at this point, because he is set to make a whopping $9 million next season. If the Rams were to cut their losses instead of banking on a bounce-back year from the 29-year-old, then they would save $7 million- that’s a significant amount of coin. Rams head coach Jeff Fisher has worked with Finnegan for a long time when you combine the years they spent together with the Titans and Rams, but it looks like the only way Finnegan stays is if he takes a significant paycut off of his huge contract.
There is one bit of bright news for Finnegan, and it deals with a fractured orbital bone that he suffered. The nasty eye injury caused Finnegan to be placed on the injured reserve, and he played in just seven games this past season.
According to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Cortland Finnegan is expected to avoid surgery on his eye, and that is good news for him and can only help his future prospects with the team. While Finnegan isn’t in the clear, the fracture is expected to heal without any additional help, and a source told Thomas that Finnegan is recovering “very well” with regards to his rehab from the injury.