Eagles Acquire Golden Tate From Lions

By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor

With the trade deadline just hours away, The Eagles have made a move. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the Eagles are acquiring pro-bowl wide reciever Golden Tate for a third round pick.

Detroit is trading WR Golden Tate to the Philadelphia Eagles for a third-round pick, per source.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 30, 2018

With Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones Jr. under contract for the next two seasons, the Lions decided Tate, who is in the final year of his deal, was movable. He has caught 44 passes for 517 yards and three touchdowns so far this season and provides a veteran presence that Pederson would like. Over his nine-year career, Tate has made 581 reception for 6936 yards and 37 touchdowns. He was selected to the Pro-Bowl in 2014.

Tate leads the league in yards after the catch since 2014 and ranks 12th in the category this season. 292 of his 517 yards this season have been after the catch. That’s over 56%. That type of play will work well with the short passes that the Eagles like to run and the ability of guys like Jason Kelce and Brandon Brooks to get out in front of the play to block for him will improve his abilities in that are. He is one of two wide receivers with 90 or more receptions in each of the last four seasons, the other being Antonio Brown.

He is an upgrade over Nelson Agholor, Jordan Matthews, Shelton Gibson and DeAndre Carter. The Eagles obviously believe that with his services, they can make a serious run at repeating as Super Bowl champs. Tate is likely looking at a fairly large contract this coming off-season which could net the Eagles a third or fourth-round compensatory pick in the 2020 draft depending on the value of that contract.

With the Eagles upcoming bye week, Tate will have additional time to learn the system and receives extra rest as he already got a bye-week in week six with the Lions.

The Eagles part with their third-round pick in the 2019 NFL draft, but will still have 11 other selections, including two second-rounders. The fact that Tate is in the final year of his contract makes the move an odd one for the Eagles, who prefer to move draft capital for players who have a longer future with the team (See Ajayi, Darby etc).

The move, along with a strong performance from Jordan Matthews in London, may also make the return of Mike Wallace or Mack Hollins from IR a bit less likely and gives the Eagles more incentive to opt to bring Richard Rodgers back as the third tight end with one of their two options to return a player from IR.

A corresponding move has not yet been made to open a spot on the active roster.

Update: The Eagles have waived DT Bruce Hector to clear a spot for Tate. The Eagles practice squad stands at nine players, so the Eagles will add Hector to the squad should he clear waivers.