AP

After the Packers drafted tight end Richard Rodgers in the third round, General Manager Ted Thompson said that the move did not shut the door on the possibility that tight end Jermichael Finley could return to the team before the start of the season.

Finley remains a free agent as he waits for medical clearance after last year’s spinal cord injury and subsequent fusion surgery, something that’s far from assured after such a serious injury. Coach Mike McCarthy shares Thompson’s hope that Finley will make a full recovery, but went a bit farther when it came to Finley’s possible future in Green Bay.

“In my mind he is a Green Bay Packer — hopefully,” McCarthy said on SiriusXM Radio with Rich Gannon, via ESPN Wisconsin. “[Finley] is going through a tough medical situation. I think we all recognize that it was a serious injury. My understanding is he is doing everything and beyond to get himself ready. We’ll continue to watch that.”

All talk about Finley’s return to the Packers or signing anywhere else will remain hypothetical unless he gets the medical news he hopes to hear and the Packers may be a tougher physical than others based on their responses to players with these kinds of injuries in the past. If Finley does get the green light, though, a return to the Packers might work out well for him because of the limited time he’ll have with a new team and his familiarity with the offense in Green Bay.