Golden Tate is the latest wide receiver to change teams ahead of the NFL trade deadline.
The Detroit Lions agreed to send the 30-year-old Tate to the Philadelphia Eagles on Tuesday. In exchange, Detroit is receiving a third-round pick in next year’s NFL Draft according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Detroit is trading WR Golden Tate to the Philadelphia Eagles for a third-round pick, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 30, 2018
Philadelphia Eagles Acquire Wide Receiver Golden Tate
Tate follows Amari Cooper to an NFC East roster. Last week, the Oakland Raiders dealt Cooper to the Dallas Cowboys and received a 2019 first-round pick in return. And in a further example of how active teams are in trying to add to their receiving corps as part of a postseason run, the AFC South-leading Houston Texans sent a fourth-round pick to the Denver Broncos in exchange for the services of Demaryius Thomas and a seventh-round pick on Tuesday.
Adding Tate is a shrewd move to a receiving/tight end corps led by Zach Ertz but that also includes Nelson Agholor and Alshon Jeffery. The defending Super Bowl champs currently stand at 4-4 and are a game and a half behind the Washington Redskins for the NFC East lead. The team is certainly looking to build off their win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in London this past Sunday.
Through eight games, Tate has accumulated 515 receiving yards and three touchdowns on 44 receptions. His most productive outing came in a narrow Week Four loss to the Cowboys where he caught all eight of the passes thrown his way for 132 yards and two scores. His 73.9 receiving yards per game ranks him in the top 20 among NFL pass-catchers.
The 5’10”, 202-pound receiver was in the final season of a five-year, $31 million deal he signed with the Lions in 2014. He eclipsed 1,000 yards receiving in three of his five seasons in Detroit. It included what remains a career-high 1,331 yards during his inaugural season with the team which led to him earning the lone Pro Bowl nod of his now nine-year NFL career.
A second-round pick (60th overall) in the 2010 draft out of Notre Dame, Tate spent the first four seasons of his career with the Seattle Seahawks. He caught seven receiving touchdowns during the regular season in his third year with the team which remains the highest single-season mark of his career. A year later, he formed a potent combination with Doug Baldwin during a season which saw the franchise win its first-ever Super Bowl.
During his sophomore and junior seasons with the Fighting Irish, Tate compiled over 2,500 receiving yards and found the end zone 25 times. It included 1,496 yards and 15 scores as a junior which led to him earning first-team All-American honors. He also won the Biletnikoff Award that year, given to the nation’s top wide receiver before declaring for the draft.
