Getty Wide receiver Golden Tate
As NFL free-agent wide receivers continue to come off the board, one name who’s remained a big question mark is former Philadelphia Eagles pass-catcher Golden Tate. The 30-year-old wideout was up-and-down with the Eagles after being acquired from the Seattle Seahawks last season, but his talent has been well-documented over the years.
Now, the waiting games begin to find out where Tate will land in free agency, but there are a number of intriguing fits who could be in the mix. We’re going to take a look at some of the top options as well as teams who could be realistic choices as NFL free agency ramps up and players can officially sign on Wednesday.
Green Bay Packers
With both Randall Cobb and Geronimo Allison now free agents, the Green Bay Packers could be in the mix for another offensive weapon to pair with Aaron Rodgers. Although the Packers have a few areas that need to be addressed, Spotrac shows they entered the NFL’s legal tampering period with the 12th-most salary cap space.
It’s going to cost a team somewhere between $8-$10 million per year more than likely to sign Tate, but he’d be a great fit with the Packers. The thought of pairing him up with Davante Adams has quite a bit of appeal and could help Green Bay in rebuilding their offensive core with a few new weapons.
San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers chose to part with Pierre Garcon, which isn’t all that surprising. In turn, this leaves them with an even larger need for more weapons to pair with Jimmy Garoppolo heading into free agency and the draft. As things stand, San Francisco has Marquise Goodwin, Dante Pettis, Trent Taylor, Kendrick Bourne and Richie James as options.
While each of those names flashed some level of upside during the 2018 season, adding Tate would give the wide receiver corps a nice boost. San Francisco had the cash to spend entering the offseason and using a portion of that on Tate or another wide receiver would make a lot of sense.
New England Patriots
The Patriots aren’t looking to spend big at wide receiver, and the proof of that comes from watching a possible target in Adam Humphries sign with the Tennessee Titans. Although Humphries’ deal was an eye-opening $36 million over four years, per Spotrac, the team also didn’t act on the potential to bring Danny Amendola back to town.
Considering Amendola’s deal with the Detroit Lions is for just one year and $4.5 million, this would make it seem on the surface that the Patriots will spend elsewhere. But if they decide to make a push for Tate, the pairing would provide an interesting fit on both sides. Tom Brady could use another weapon at receiver to pair with Julian Edelman, and Tate has a big-time ability as a playmaker.
It can’t be entirely ruled out, but this is certainly more of a long shot.
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