Golden Tate might still be playing for the Seattle Seahawks if there wasn’t a mixup during negotiations in 2014.
Head coach Pete Carroll told reporters Tuesday that the team’s contract offer to Tate wasn’t communicated properly, which led to the Pro Bowl receiver signing with the Detroit Lions for five years and $31 million.
“There was a time when Golden didn’t know that we had made him an offer and he thought we didn’t, and that’s because it wasn’t communicated,” Carroll said, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “I just felt bad about that. I don’t even know what the numbers were at the time, but that wasn’t the point. It was we were interested in bringing him back, and he didn’t get that sense from us. I was disappointed in that.”
Carroll will be reunited with Tate when the Seahawks and Lions face off Saturday in a wild-card game at CenturyLink Field. Tate had just three catches for 29 yards in his first game against the Seahawks last season, but that was with Calvin Johnson getting most of the attention in Detroit’s offense. This year, Tate has been the primary target of quarterback Matthew Stafford by a huge margin, drawing 135 targets. His 91 receptions were tied for 10th during the regular season.
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