3 cap casualties Patriots absolutely need to avoid this offseason
1. Golden Tate
Yeah, four acrobatic catches from Golden Tate per season isn’t enough to move the needle. The New York Giants released him for a reason — he was complaining about his lack of involvement in the offense but he was the one who disappeared on an uncomfortable amount of occasions. And did we forget to mention that previous PED suspension?
Tate will be 33 in 2021 and he hasn’t had a truly effective season since 2017. Sure, blame the Giants’ stagnant offense, but then why did Darius Slayton out-perform him significantly the last two years? If you really think about it, Tate has simply been a beneficiary of Russell Wilson and Matthew Stafford’s success. He just proved to the world that he can’t help out a young signal caller or a QB in an entirely new system.
Golden Tate would be wrong for the Patriots for so many reasons.
Again, the price doesn’t matter. It’s the effectiveness we care about. Belichick doesn’t need to deal with character concerns when said player isn’t going to move the needle. There’s always the talent/production aspect to balance with that. And the scale is teetering in the wrong direction.
Maybe this would’ve worked if we were talking about the post-2018 Patriots, who in dire need of another veteran weapon in the receiving game. But this version of the team needs potent options to help Jakobi Meyers and N’Keal Harry further develop as well as a tight end to provide some sort of a security blanket for whoever is under center next season.
Regardless of price, Tate wouldn’t help the Patriots at all. He’s not a No. 1 option. He’s not really a possession receiver. And he’s not really good in the slot. What’s the use?
