buddhafrog

October 30th, 2018 at 3:11 PM ^

I'm cutting line to post the video of Golden Tate jumping into the MSU band - because I promise you it'll be the best thing posted on this thread. This is true even though I don't know how to embed properly. If you watch it and still think I'm wrong, I will accept every downvote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg-76xzGABE

ijohnb

October 30th, 2018 at 2:12 PM ^

That is a good trade.  They weren't going to pay him what he is going to get elsewhere.  Get something for him while you can.  You can get an actual contributor in the third round.

SalvatoreQuattro

October 30th, 2018 at 2:17 PM ^

 Created another hole they need to fill. Lions could have easily re-signed him.(he isn’t getting a huge deal at age 30)  Considering Quinn’s mixed draft record this trade is dubious.

They essentially gave up on the season. Lions have a horrendous defense so they need to be able to possess the ball. Tate is a superb possession WR. 

Idiotic move.

Blau

October 30th, 2018 at 3:26 PM ^

You do know you don't need to have a "possession" WR to possess the ball, right? Riddick is a decent RB with pretty good hands who could definitely help on 3rd down to move the chains and "possess" the ball. Also feeding Kerryon 25+ a game will help with possession. Blount can move it too on 3rd and short.

Speaking for a lot of fans, including myself, I will miss the YAC he brought to the Lions. Hoping the rookie Powell can channel some inner Tate. Who knows, maybe after the season BQ can gauge the market for him and if the cap space and need is there, we can bring him back (wishful thinking).

FatGuyTouchdown

October 30th, 2018 at 4:52 PM ^

1. They have Marvin Jones and Kenny Golladay, both of whom have been very good this year. 

2. He'll be 31 by the time next season starts, considering he'll probably be able to get anywhere from 8-10 million per year, that seems like way too much to pay what will probably be the 3rd best receiver on the Lions next year.

3. Bob Quinn's draft record: Dashawn Hand, Frank Ragnow, and Kerryon Johnson have all looked excellent this year. No GM has a perfect record, and the Teez Tabor pick was an abomination, but Quinn has been very good at drafting especially in the later rounds. 

4. They lost by 28 to the Jets, and lost to the Cowboys, 49ers, and Seahawks. They weren't winning the division. This isnt a very good football team, and its definitely not a team thats good enough to justify forgoing valuable future assets for a pipe dream of a 30 year old wide receiver making a genuine difference over the last 8 games before moving on to another team. 

FatGuyTouchdown

October 30th, 2018 at 6:51 PM ^

He looks great! And the 2018 draft has been fantastic so far! And Snacks was great on Sunday, and Jarrad Davis has been decent, but he's still improving. AShawn has been terrific this year! There are a lot of things to like about the direction the Lions are going, and the bottom of the roster is better than most rosters, which means the depth is there. I truly believe the Lions are 1 or 2 real, impact players on defense away from contending in the NFC. If they could sign an edge rusher and drafted Devin White or Josh Allen, they could be in great shape.

m9tt

October 30th, 2018 at 6:36 PM ^

Personally, I'd be pretty shocked if Golden Tate gets between 8-10 million, even at age 31. If that's what it took to re-sign him, the Lions are fools for not getting an extension done.

Jarvis Landry got 15 mil/year for 5, Brandin Cooks got about the same with more guaranteed money, and Tyler Lockett got 11-12 million for 3 years.  And then looking at recent free agency signings, Paul Richardson took home an 8 mil/year contract, Allen Robinson went 3 years/42 million from the Bears, and Marvin Jones got 8/per two years ago in free agency. 

Yes, all those players are younger than Tate, but Golden is still productive and is a better player than all those receivers listed above. I could see an NFL team going 13-16 million per year for Tate (probably on a three or four year deal) in free agency come March, and Tate himself knows this will be his last big payday. 

m9tt

October 30th, 2018 at 7:07 PM ^

Also, regarding point 3...

Bob Quinn had an excellent draft in 2018 (Ragnow and Johnson look like All-Pros, maybe Hand too), a pretty poor draft in 2017, and a good draft in 2016 (3-4 starters depending upon how you view Zettel)... But like you said, every GM has bad drafts (go look up Rick Speilman's 2016 draft for the Vikings... that's a very good GM whiffing on every pick) and everything Quinn has done has been forward-looking. He doesn't commit to long terms or big names in free agency, he extends key players like Stafford, Slay, Quin, and Diggs at the right times before their positional markets peak, and BQ has made shrewd moves like the Harrison trade last week or the Golden Tate trade today. 

Sure, there are things that BQ does that I don't appreciate like going completely off-the-board at least once per draft (Tracy Walker, Jimmy Landes), trading higher future picks for lower current picks like the Hand trade, or not investing more resources into the defense... But even in this small three-year sample size, Quinn is pretty much far and away the most competent person the Lions have ever had in the front-office. 

Maize N' Ute

October 30th, 2018 at 2:19 PM ^

Hard to figure out the message management is signaling here.  On one end, Tate is going to want a big contract after the season.  He's 30 years old and appears to have the legs to continue his stellar career.  But he is 30 years old and you never know what will happen with aged NFL players.  Quinn seems satisfied with Galladay and Jones at WR and Roberts at TE. Maybe Tate is expendable and you draft a replacement.  But on the other end, the Lions laid an egg against Seattle and appears to be frauds, so why not cash in on rental players.

Either way, Quinn has pulled off a couple nice trades.

Night_King

October 30th, 2018 at 2:20 PM ^

Sad day but I fully get the logic.

However, Quinn needs to draft very well moving forward. Cannot afford early round misses anymore. Teez Tabor is the worst corner I've seen in a Leo's uniform in decades, and that honestly says a lot. There's been plenty of shitty ones. 

stephenrjking

October 30th, 2018 at 2:42 PM ^

I guess a third is an ok return, but the Lions went from hulking up to correct issues in-season (getting Snacks from the Giants for a 5th) to selling at the deadline in the space of a week. It doesn't sound like things are all that steady under the hood.

Blau

October 30th, 2018 at 3:33 PM ^

I mean crazier shit has happened... like them already beating GB and NE who most wrote predicted the Lions would lose to. Losing to upstart Seattle, who now look like the Seahawks of the most recent past, really took the jam out of their doughnut. If the Lions can squeak out a game or two against CHI and MIN, they'll be right in the thick of a division where everyone is taking each other out essentially. 

Blau

October 30th, 2018 at 3:42 PM ^

Maybe that's the point of changing the status quo from Quinn's perspective.

I love Golden Tate (the only jersey I've ever worn) but the smart move says we weren't going to resign him based on the market for similar WRs and he's been very vocal about future contract expectations. Get something now, drop whatever you were willing to pay him on the abysmal defensive front 7 and consider moving some pieces around to fill the slot in the future (Riddick, Powell, FA). Hell, Kerryon Johnson has been very good catching the ball out of the backfield as well and creating his own YAC.

the fume

October 30th, 2018 at 6:33 PM ^

I think it's very steady, they're looking towards the next several years.

Harrison will likely be around another year or two, and as you said he fills a position of need.

Tate was 1 of 3 WRs, so that's not where the money needed to be committed.

So they filled a need with a good player, traded a good player at a position with less of a need, saved some cap space (Tate will probably get more than Harrison will the next 1 or 2 seasons), and in the mean time picked up a 3rd and gave away a 5th.