Will silence be Golden for the Detroit Lions and Tate?
By Robert Jones
If we are all honest, then what we want more than anything else is for the Lions to win the Super Bowl. With or without Tate or Matthew Stafford or Ziggy Ansah or Glover Quin.
The hiring of Matt Patricia as the Lions new head coach only strengthens the belief in doing business the ‘Patriot way’.
He has watched players, especially on defense, be allowed to walk in order to keep the salary cap as flexible as possible. And while Patricia is certainly a ‘people person’ who values his players for more than just their on-field contributions, he understands how this process works for the good of a franchise.
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Tate will turn 30-years old as training camp opens. Meaning he will be at that magical age that players start to lose a step and their skills take that downward slide.
Make no mistake about it, that is the stat that will be on Bob Quinn’s mind during these negotiations much more than how many receptions or yards after the catch or touchdowns Tate has contributed to the Lions.
It will be a cold-hard look at how much time Quinn believes Tate has left in the tank and how willing Golden is to be flexible.
Can a deal get done? Absolutely. Bob Quinn has be very resourceful in his ability to sign players he deems are necessary to the Lions ability to compete. He has also shown more willingness to spend on occasion than his former team in New England.
But that doesn’t mean he’s willing to be a spendthrift or sign a player to a contract that rewards how well they played for the team in the past.
No, this about signing players to contracts that work well with the cap.
To Tate’s credit, his skill set should lose their luster much less glaringly than most other outstanding players. Since speed is not as much a part of his game as his natural quickness, losing a step won’t be as noticeable.
Reliable hands are more about mental toughness than anything else. Ignoring footsteps and concentrating on the ball. Tate does this as well as anyone in the league.
And how about desire? It certainly looks to me like he has plenty of that left in the tank.
In the end, is signing Tate worth it? Of course it is. He is still a highly skilled play-maker. Yet even so, it will need to be a contract that doesn’t bog down the Lions cap.
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If there is a mutually agreeable answer to this contract conundrum, then Bob Quinn will find it and eventually sign the ever popular Golden Tate to an extension.
If not… well, the ‘Patriot way’ would be to start looking for a new receiver.