The Eagles gave up a third-round pick to acquire wide receiver Golden Tate in October and many Eagles fans were likely hoping to see more than 30 catches for 278 yards and a touchdown from the new arrival in the regular season.
Tate added seven catches for 64 yards in the playoffs and scored the game-winning touchdown in the team’s Wild Card round win over the Bears. Vice president of football operations Howie Roseman cited that score in his answer to a question at Tuesday’s press conference about whether the deal worked out as he hoped.
“No question. When we made the trade, we were 4-4. We were looking for a spark,” Roseman said. “We were looking for more firepower on offense. When you talk about Golden, here is a guy who has incredible character, incredible production, can really fit any scheme. Everyone in this building was incredibly excited about adding him to our football team. We knew the price to pay. ... We look back at our process, and I feel very good about our process. We’re going to be aggressive, and when we are swinging and we’re going to be aggressive, we feel like we’re going to be right a lot more than wrong. In this case, feel very good about that. And you saw the contributions that he made in a big game. The stage isn’t too big for Golden Tate.”
Tate is set for free agency in March and he was asked this week about his plans for the offseason.
“I really enjoyed my time here,” Tate said, via NJ.com. “I really hope it’s not coming to an end. In the short time period, I’ve had a bunch of great memories.”
Wherever he winds up, Tate said he’s prioritizing “getting deep into the playoffs and winning Super Bowls” over the remainder of his career.
