Coaches take notice of more mature, productive Finley

Jermichael Finley's play in the second half of the season appears to have convinced the Green Bay Packers to bring him back for about $8.25 million in salary and bonuses in 2013.

Finley, 25, has one year left on the two-year, $14 million contract he signed last February, when the Packers re-signed him based more on potential than performance in his first four seasons in the NFL.

He started 2012 poorly, was plagued by an inordinate number of dropped passes, and by halfway through the season appeared in jeopardy getting released in the offseason because of a contract that is paying him like an elite ...