Bring Tate home
The Tennessee Titans wanted to sign Dont’a Hightower in free agency a few years back, but couldn’t get a deal done despite both sides wanting to see Hightower back in Tennessee.
Kevin Byard has become a star on the field and the city embraced him instantly even before he was one of the best safeties in the NFL. A big part of that is because he played his college ball at MTSU.
The fact is, Tennessee is becoming a state that produces legitimate NFL talent, and Titans fans love to cheer someone that they watched in the SEC or someone that they watched played football around Nashville at any point in their career.
This isn’t a new thing and the idea of bringing Tate home has been going on for years. Not just because he hometown, but because of what he adds to this team. Way back in 2018 when Golden Tate was with the Detroit Lions, rumors were being floated around about a potential move for Tate to come home. Bill Barnwell actually floated out the idea of a trade for a 4th round pick and Tajae Sharpe:
"“While the Lions are still giving Tate plenty of targets, the 30-year-old former Seahawks standout is in the final year of his deal and seems unlikely to return to Detroit after the breakout of Kenny Golladay. Tate is averaging 86.2 yards per game this season, so he’s still an effective weapon, but the Notre Dame product is playing less than 80 percent of the snaps on offense, leaving him well behind Marvin Jones (93.5 percent) and Golladay (89.9 percent). “"
Tate was eventually traded for a 3rd round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles and wound up with 795 yards and 4 touchdowns. Oh yea, and he caught the game-winning touchdown pass in their lone playoff win vs the Chicago Bears which feels important to mention.
Think of a world where fans aren’t wishing for a player like A.J. Brown to rush back from an injury because they have a competent backup/rotational receiver who can give the team something similar to what Brown can do.
The questions are, does he still have it and how much will he cost?