5 former Detroit Lions who might be done in the NFL

1. WR Golden Tate

Tate has had a pretty solid 11 seasons as an NFL wide receiver, including four good full seasons as a Detroit Lion where he had at least 90 catches in each and topped 1,000 yards three times.

But Tate was out of the game last season, outside of a few weeks on the practice squad of the Tennessee Titans late in the season and doing some hosting of NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football.” And so far this year, there have been no indications teams are interested.

It probably won’t go very far in terms of time, and if nothing else he’ll be staying in some sort of shape if an NFL team does call, but Tate is dabbling back in baseball with the Port Angeles Lefties in the West Coast League. He was good enough as a high school baseball player to be drafted in 2007, then he was drafted in baseball again the same year the Seattle Seahawks took him in the NFL Draft (2010).

The WCL’s own announcement of Tate’s signing with Port Angeles might be telling about this football future.

"Today (June 14) the West Coast League’s Port Angeles Lefties announced that ex-NFL wide receiver Golden Tate has signed as a Lefties player for the remainder of the 2022 season. While Jake Locker and Jordan Poyer both played for WCL teams before their NFL careers, Tate will become the first former NFL player in the league."

The WCL referred to Tate as a former NFL player, which is the only way it could refer to him under the circumstances. If he was with a team, they would not be allowing him to moonlight playing baseball in June and he did not play last season.

Tate hasn’t formally announced his retirement from the NFL. But in the coming months, as he surveys opportunities in media or otherwise if teams continue not to call, it may be forced to happen.