Just last week, Lions fans were blowing up Twitter with how great their general manager Bob Quinn was after landing “Snacks” Harrison for pocket change. This week, they’re feeling gut-punched after Quinn traded fan favorite Golden Tate to the Philadelphia Eagles for a draft pick. Now that the dust is settling, we should all take a breathe and look at this move.
You have to wonder if Quandre Diggs and Jamal Agnew are doing the same. Diggs responded on Twitter with a simple “WTF!” tweet and Jamal Agnew followed that up with a simple “Bruh”. My response to these players and the rest of the team is the team should have shown up against the lowly New York Jets and now 1-7, San Francisco 49ers and won at least one of those two games they were expected to win. If they did, the Lions could easily be frontrunner in the NFC North and the only Tate conversation taking place might be how he is expected to perform in fantasy this week in Minnesota.
While Tate sent a loving message to the Lions organization, team and fans as well as a tweet that read, “It’s been real DETROIT! I’ll love ya forever. Philly Philly let’s get it!!” Eagles QB Carson Wentz was quick to respond to his new star receiver with this post:
Personally I’m gonna really miss Tate. He’s a class act on and off the field. He never pointed fingers when the Lions were spiraling out of control or giving a new definition to the term “dumpster fire”. But it’s a smart deal by a GM that learned how to build a winner while working for the New England Patriots. How can Lions fans not want to trust that after decades of failure from a laundry list of other GMs and head coaches.
Quinn’s overall 2018 trade deadline performance stands out against all the other GM’s IMO. Overall, the savvy dealmaker snagged Damon “Snacks” Harrison, who is signed for years, and third rounder for Tate, who has half of a season left on his contract and a fifth-round pick. And that fifth round pick he sent for Snacks was from a deal when he shipped 
out bust Laken Tomlinson to the 49ers.
So wrapping your heads around these two deals, while losing one class act and leader in the locker room, Quinn was sure to add another in Harrison who is a class act and respected team leader. And he looked ahead to the near future when he would have lost Tate to free agency for a much lower pick.
Moving Tate also frees up $3.7 million cap space and remember, Quinn snagged Lions standout receiver Kenny Golladay in the third round a few years ago and before that found starting lineman Graham Glasgow sitting and waiting in the third round. So that third round pick acquired in this trade may become very high value.
It isn’t like the Lions traded a majority of their passing game away because they didn’t. QB Matthew Stafford is surrounded by a lot of firepower in the wide receiver position with Golladay and Marvin Jones running up some good numbers this season and TJ Jones and undrafted Brandon Powell jonsing for a full time opportunity.
And what about being one game out of first place!
Well, the Green Bay Packers are right in the hunt too, actually sitting just ahead of the Lions and they traded one of the best defensive backs in the NFL, moving Ha Ha Clinton-Dix to the Washington Redskins for just a fourth-round pick. Tate’s stats are damn good, but so are Dix’s who has 47 tackles, three INTs one FF and a sack. And he was moved for a fourth-round pick while the Lions got a third.
Lions fans should be happy seeing activity that betters the team in the long run, a nice change from desperate un-calculated moves that former GMs like Martin Mayhew and Matt Millen were known to make.
While it may hurt seeing Tate sprinting down the field in green wearing his new number 19, this move is one that makes a lot of sense in the long run.
More Lions Articles:
Lions players and fans should buy into Matt Patricia