2:58pm: Tate has now confirmed to Anderson that he has accepted the Lions’ offer (Twitter link). According to Tate, it’s a five-year deal worth $31MM, with $13.25MM in guaranteed money.
2:42pm: Tate tells Josina Anderson of ESPN (on Twitter) that he hasn’t agreed to anything yet, though it still sounds like the two sides will complete a deal.
2:35pm: The Lions have signed Golden Tate to a five-year deal, according to Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com (on Twitter). Michelle Beisner of NFL Network reported earlier today that the wide receiver was in Detroit for a visit.
The former Seahawks notable is coming off of his most productive season ever in which he hauled in 64 catches for 898 yards and five touchdowns. Shortly after Seattle’s Super Bowl win, Tate said in an interview that he badly wanted to stay with the Seahawks and would even be able to take a discount to make that happen. In the week after, however, he backtracked from the notion that he would take less money to stay with Seattle.
With Tate in the mix, the Lions hope that they can have a solid receiving weapon to take attention away from star Calvin Johnson. The club has had some success using Nate Burleson in that role, but nothing has kept clubs from double-teaming Megatron.
We’ll see with the money but it’s about time the Lions got someone halfway decent to pair up with Calvin.
Good place for tate he’ll thrive next to Megatron