Golden Tate to the New England Patriots rumors gaining steam

With NFL free agency rapidly approaching, the prospect of uniting Golden Tate with the New England Patriots is looking ever more appetizing.

We’re now just three weeks away from the official start of NFL free agency. For all 32 teams around the league, this is one of the most exciting – and stressful – times of the year. From now until the end of spring, NFL franchises are focusing their attention almost solely on the scouting combine, free agency, and the draft, knowing that the decisions they make over the next few months will have a major impact on their fortunes in the 2019 season.

The Patriots enter this period in a familiar place, once again king of the hill when it comes to football supremacy. Still, as the great poet and playwright William Shakespeare once said: “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.” And as the character Omar said in “The Wire” on HBO: “You come at the king, you best not miss.”

Both of these quotes (taken from very different source materials) illustrate a couple of points about New England this time around. For one, the Patriots can’t afford to just stand pat and hope the other 31 teams in the NFL don’t do enough to catch up to their level of quality. And two, those same 31 teams are going to do everything in their power this offseason to make sure that when they have their shot at “the king,” they won’t miss.

Golden Tate of the Philadelphia Eagles represents an alluring and intriguing option in free agency for the Patriots. The unrestricted free agent is coming off one of his worst seasons in the league, and he’s already on the wrong side of 30… but still, his unique skill set and abilities make him seem like the perfect fit for a Bill Belichick-type of receiver.

Tate is a master of adding valuable yards after the catch. In fact, since 2014 he leads all pass-catchers in total YAC, having racked up over 2,700 yards in that timespan. He’s also a machine when it comes to production: in six healthy 16-game full seasons of play, he’s topped at least 800 yards receiving five different times.

Similar to Julian Edelman, Tate isn’t exactly reliable when it comes to scoring a ton of touchdowns. His career high for a season is seven, a number he came by back in 2012 when he was with the Seattle Seahawks.

Just as is the case with Edelman, though, the Patriots don’t really need a receiver who can find the end zone on every reception. Obviously it would be nice, but there’s a reason the team drafted Sony Michel in the first round of the 2018 draft. The gameplan for New England all last season was to methodically move the ball down the field, little by little with small and intermediate gains here and there that kept the chains moving, until finally punching it in from the red zone with Michel or Rex Burkhead for six.

Currently, the Patriots have just five receivers on their active roster still under contract for 2019. Of those five, only one took any meaningful snaps during the 2018 season at receiver, and that’s Julian Edelman. Matthew Slater’s value to the team is unquestioned, but he’s a special teams ace, not a starting wideout. Braxton Berrios, Cody Hollister, and Darren Andrews are all practice squad-caliber players.

Chris Hogan has played well for the Patriots in three seasons, but he’s a free agent who might be able to secure a heftier deal elsewhere. Phillip Dorsett is another free agent who could find more money with another team willing to take a flier on him. Cordarrelle Patterson had a superb 2018 season as a jack-of-all-trades for the Patriots, but he is yet another unrestricted free agent who could sign elsewhere.

That leaves only Josh Gordon, who of course is still serving an indefinite suspension for failing yet another drug test.

Add it all up, and New England is sorely thin at receiver. Even for a team notorious for making the most of what it has – and for asking players to sometimes play more than one position – the current situation begs for reinforcements at wideout. Especially with Tom Brady turning 42 in August and inching ever closer to his self-proclaimed retirement date, the Pats must know they have a narrow window to try and win a record-breaking seventh championship with him.

Signing Tate just feels like a no-brainer for this franchise. Hopefully Belichick feels the same way, and the Patriots will soon be getting some much-needed wide receiver support when free agency really gets underway.