Quite the headline, isn’t it?
That’s not what members of the Detroit Lions are saying publicly, but it’s exactly what Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press thinks after the Lions traded wide receiver Golden Tate to the Philadelphia Eagles on Tuesday.
“This is the kind of move that incites anger. Just when you thought the Lions were starting to show some promise, they undercut themselves. The Lions have been selling fans on the future and promising them a better tomorrow for 60 years.”
The Lions sent Tate to the Eagles in exchange for a 2019 third-round pick, which Monarrez hates because it doesn’t guarantee Detroit a player of Tate’s caliber in return.
Detroit is now a far less dangerous team without Tate and they made the move despite being one game behind the first-place Bears and with three of their next four games against NFC North rivals.
Tate led the Lions with 44 receptions and 537 yards. Without him, they still have two good targets for quarterback Matthew Stafford in Marvin Jones and Kenny Golladay, but Minnesota’s defense now has an easier job than it otherwise would’ve on Sunday.
What’s more is that the Lions could’ve kept Tate and let him walk after the season in free agency, to which they would’ve received a compensatory pick, possibly a third-rounder, in the 2020 draft.
Michael Rothstein of ESPN Detroit writes:
“Is that one-year difference in pick enough to trade away one of Detroit’s most consistent players? One of its locker room leaders? One of the players who made the most connection with the broadest scope of Lions fans?
“No, it’s not. And it’s why things are even more confusing about Detroit’s decision.”
Rothstein adds that Lions players have expressed confusion about the trade on social media, and it’s done nothing but once again signal that the Lions are “playing for next year.”
Either way, it’s great news for the Vikings who really need a victory this week to stay near the top of the NFC North standings. The Bears play at Buffalo this week and then host the Lions in Week 10, setting the state for a showdown with the Vikings at Soldier Field on Nov. 18.
