Last season, the Detroit Lions traded Golden Tate to the Philadelphia Eagles for a third-round draft pick.
http://gty.im/1058381164
At the time of the trade, many fans were up in arms about the deal, saying that GM Bob Quinn was ‘throwing in the towel' by trading away the Lions' most consistent offensive weapon.
According to a report, Tate and the Lions were working on a new deal but he ended up turning the offer down and he was traded the next day.
Golden Tate was negotiating a new deal with the #Lions. Wanted to finish career there. Turned down an offer. Next day he was traded.
On Sunday… he returns. #Giants https://t.co/ODLXxLm8q1
— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) October 25, 2019
Kyle Meinke of MLive piggybacked on the previous tweet by noting that he heard the offer to Tate was a “very, very good one,” but that Tate turned it down. Because of that, he was dealt to the Eagles for a draft pick.
Just to be clear, the Lions did make an offer, and I've heard it was a very, very good one. But Tate turned it down. So the Lions traded him for a third-round pick instead. https://t.co/8kA7GSeU2X
— kyle meinke (@kmeinke) October 25, 2019
If Meinke's tweet is accurate, it sure sounds like Tate only wanted to stay in Detroit if the Lions were willing to pony up the big bucks, which is his prerogative.
Like we have learned over the past couple of days, the NFL is a business.