I’m still not 100% sold on Golden Tate. Before last season I was of the opinion that he an easily replaceable player. Now, I think he has proven that he can play in this league, but I still want to see more from him before we re-sign him. With big money already invested at WR (Rice & Harvin) I don’t think it would be wise to invest more money at that position. Sidney Rice is making $8.2 million per year average and Harvin is making $11.1 million per year average. I think Tate would sign a similar contract to Steelers WR Antonio Brown (6 years $43 million, $7.1 million average per year, $8.5 million guaranteed). Brown and Tate came out in the same draft but Brown was quicker to produce than Tate. IMO Tate is not a core player.
I the next few years we need to re-sign the following players,
(FS) Earl Thomas: Thomas is considered one of the top-3 Safeties in the NFL and will be costly to re-sign. When he re-signs he may be the highest paid safety making anywhere from $9 - $11 million per year if not more.
(CB) Richard Sherman: By some he is already considered the best CB in the NFL, and elite CB command a lot of money. If he gives us a bit of a hometown discount, which hopefully will be cheaper than Revis’s $16 million per year, his contract will still be a big hit each year (estimate $14 million per year).
(LT) Russell Okung: Is another player that will probably command top-5 LT type money, guestimate at least $12 million per year.
(QB) Russell Wilson: He is under contract for three more years, but he will be another top-5 paid player at his position (estimate at least $16 million per year).
(OLB) KJ Wright: While he may not command top-10 money for his position, he is still going to cost a pretty penny to re-sign.
(MLB) Bobby Wagner: The last year of his contract is 2015, so he is yet another player who could be considered a core player.
If Tate has another nice year, then put a 2nd round tender on him at the end of this season. He would still make good money, around $2.5 million. Then let the 2014 season be his “prove it” season, and by the end of that season if he proves to be a borderline Pro Bowl type player then reward him with a long contract. At worst we put a 2nd round tender on him after this season and he signs elsewhere. Then, all of a sudden we have an extra 2nd round pick in the 2014 draft. The 2014 draft is going to be a great draft for WR, and that additional 2nd round pick can be used to trade up in the 1st round to get a WR that we covet.