For the past five seasons with the Detroit Lions, Golden Tate has emerged as one of the most consistent wide receivers in the NFL. He has had over 90 receptions in each of those seasons and he is on pace to eclipse 100 receptions in 2018.
That being said, Tate, who is 30-years-old, is in the final year of his contract and Lions’ general manager Bob Quinn has a very important decision to make regarding the receiver’s future in Detroit.
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One option that Quinn may have available is to trade Tate to a contender in need of a wide receiver.
On Thursday morning, ESPN released an article by Bill Barnwell titled, “11 sensible midseason NFL trade ideas, and why they make sense.” Included in the piece is a hypothetical trade between the Lions and the Tennessee Titans which includes Golden Tate.
Details of the trade include the Lions sending Tate to the Titans in exchange for WR Tajae Sharpe and a 2019 fourth-round pick.
Here is Barwell’s explanation of why this trade would make sense.
“While the Lions are still giving Tate plenty of targets, the 30-year-old former Seahawks standout is in the final year of his deal and seems unlikely to return to Detroit after the breakout of Kenny Golladay. Tate is averaging 86.2 yards per game this season, so he’s still an effective weapon, but the Notre Dame product is playing less than 80 percent of the snaps on offense, leaving him well behind Marvin Jones (93.5 percent) and Golladay (89.9 percent). With the Lions 2-3 and their playoff chances already below 10 percent, per FPI, Tate could represent a valuable trade chit.
Lions general manager Bob Quinn and Titans general manager Jon Robinson worked together in New England, and while just about every organization in the league has someone in the building with Foxboro experience, they seem like a natural fit for a deal here. The Titans are thin at receiver after Rishard Matthews left town and Delanie Walker went down for the year, and while Taywan Taylor has flashed at times, Titans pass catchers have dropped two long would-be touchdowns in consecutive weeks. They could sorely use another passing weapon for Marcus Mariota. The Lions will take a flier in return on Sharpe, who started 10 games as a rookie in 2016 before missing all of last year.”
Nation, what do you think? If you were Bob Quinn would you pull the trigger on this trade?
