Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Golden Tate (81) celebrates as he leaves the field after the 2013 NFC Championship football game against the San Francisco 49ers at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
The Seattle Seahawks have some incredibly difficult decisions to make this offseason, and it will be interesting to see if they retain wide receiver Golden Tate, who is their second-most talented wideout behind Percy Harvin. Even though he is only 5’10”, Tate has a Steve Smith-esque toughness to him, and it’s rare to find his toughness and leaping ability in a prospect of his size. Tate is also agile and explosive, but his ability to generate yards after the catch is overshadowed by the playmaking ability of Harvin.
He stated earlier this month that he would like to re-sign with the Seahawks, and that feeling hasn’t changed at all. The Notre Dame product recently stated, via the Seattle Times’s Bob Condotta, “And hopefully, I can call Seattle home for a few more years. But we’ll see. I know that coach (Pete) Carroll has expressed that he would like to have me on the team, and I have expressed that I would like to stay on this team because I see this team winning for a long time. But we will see. Only time will tell.’’
I would be surprised if Tate and the Seahawks don’t come to an agreement, because both John Schneider and Pete Carroll have shown plenty of interest in getting a deal done with the 25-year-old. He won’t come too cheaply, but Tate’s interest in staying with the defending Super Bowl champions has made him willing to take a paycut. With mutual interest, I’m sure a multi-year agreement that falls in between both parties’ desires will take place.
Last season, Tate hauled in 64 passes for 898 yards and five touchdowns, which was good for an average of 14 yards per reception.