The Detroit Lions Send Golden Tate To The Philadelphia Eagles In Exchange For A Third Round Pick.

The trade rumors surrounding Golden Tate started to pick up steam this week. A trade was always a possibility, despite the fact that Golden Tate has been among the fan favorites during his time in Detroit. Unfortunately, there is a business side to this game as well.

The Detroit Lions shipped Golden Tate off to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for a third-round pick. The success of second-year standout wide receiver Kenny Golladay as well as the fact that Golden Tate becomes an unrestricted free agent after this year were likely the primary contributing factors.

After the monster contracts that wide receivers signed in this past offseason, it always looked like re-signing Golden Tate was going to be a long-shot. While fans often hope that a player will sign a team-friendly deal or give a “hometown discount”, those types of deals are very rarely made, especially with a player set to hit the jackpot in free agency.

A third round pick is probably a little bit better than what I was expecting for a half season of a receiver of Golden Tate’s caliber. While losing Tate is disappointing, the third round pick is decent value for what Detroit is giving up. Bob Quinn continues to accumulate draft picks, less than a week after sending one of those draft picks to acquire interior defensive lineman Snacks Harrison.

With the loss of Golden Tate, expect to see a lot more of wide receiver TJ Jones, a player that performed admirably in the absence of Kenny Golladay last season. There might be a Brandon Powell appearance as well, given the ball security issues that popped up again for Ameer Abdullah returning kicks this past week.

Unfortunately, the Detroit Lions are sending mixed signals to the fans about their outlook on the rest of the season. Sending a pick for Snacks Harrison looked like the move of a team that was in the middle of the divisional race and was expecting to make a playoff run. Sending someone who has been possibly the teams’ best receiver over the past few years away for a middle round selection gives the impression that the team is looking more toward 2019 than they are 2018.

It’s also possible that the front office is confident in the team’s depth at wide receiver and thinks that they can still make that playoff run with the pieces they have. Still, there’s no debate that Golden Tate has been an important part of this Detroit Lions offense for years now, and his presence will be missed.

Thanks for checking out the article everyone. Go Lions! You can follow me on Twitter @Lanny1925 and be sure to join the community on the Detroit Lions subreddit.