Golden Tate says he “would love” to join the Patriots

Free agent wide receiver Golden Tate openly gushed about how much he “would love” to end up with the New England Patriots this offseason.

With NFL free agency set to open in less than two weeks, teams and players are making their final unofficial pitches to one another before it becomes open season on the market.

By virtue of making another deep playoff run and capturing their sixth Lombardi Trophy, the New England Patriots are arguably a bit behind the other 31 teams in the league when it comes to their offseason preparations. The team must divide their focus between the scouting combine (which started Tuesday) and the beginning of free agency.

One player who has seemingly been linked to the Patriots for weeks now is unrestricted free agent Golden Tate. The veteran wide receiver out of Notre Dame spent the first half of 2018 with the Detroit Lions and the second half with the Philadelphia Eagles. He also previously played under Pete Carroll with the Seattle Seahawks, where he won a championship in 2013.

Few teams in the NFL have as glaring a need at wide receiver as the Patriots. Chris Hogan, Phillip Dorsett, and Cordarrelle Patterson are all unrestricted free agents who could find contracts elsewhere next month. Josh Gordon is a restricted free agent who could return to New England’s roster, but he’d need to be reinstated first from his league suspension.

That leaves just Julian Edelman as the only remaining Patriot wideout still under contract who played any meaningful snaps last season.

Tate’s skill set as a reliable weapon in the short-to-intermediate passing game makes him an ideal target for Bill Belichick to try and scoop up, as he seems like a natural fit with Tom Brady and the Patriots’ offense. And apparently, the interest might just be mutual.

Tate sat down for an interview with former receiver Earl Bennett on the Prostyle Podcast, where he discussed a range of topics, including his upcoming foray into free agency. When Bennett asked what Tate was looking for in an ideal NFL landing spot, the 30-year-old receiver opened up about his priorities at this point in his career.

“I want to get another ring. Winning the Super Bowl was probably one of the highlights of my career, or the highlight of my career, and I want to get back there so much more. That’s what the goal is.”

Bennett naturally suggested the Patriots as a logical setting for Tate to try and accomplish that goal… and Tate absolutely raved about the idea.

"“I would love it. That organization, they have proven to be champions year-in and year-out. They work hard for sure, but you know where you’re going to be at the end of the season: you’re going to be not only looking at the playoffs, but you’re looking at maybe a first-round bye with this team. You gotta admire that organization, they do things right, they’ve been doing it for a long, long, long time. I would definitely love being a part of something like that and catch a few passes from old Tommy Boy. Julian [Edelman] is a buddy of mine, I’m really good buddies with him. I’ve heard good things from Kyle Van Noy, who got traded from Detroit and went there and has just been balling out since. It’s, as I said, a great organization. I definitely would not mind going over there for sure.”"

It’s not often you hear an NFL player speak so freely and glowingly about one specific organization as he enters the open market; unless, of course, that player is intentionally trying to send the message that he really wants to end up there… and might be willing to take less money as well. If it means a crack at winning another ring, it sure sounds like Tate is on board.

Let’s just hope Belichick caught wind of this story and is taking note. Brady-to-Tate sure has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?