This is Golden Tate's time. Or at least it was supposed to be. The highly touted Notre Dame product enters his third season with his best chance by far to be a starting wide receiver with the Seattle Seahawks.
He's healthy. He's the subject of a lot of positive talk in Seattle about his development. Now, he just has to beat out Braylon Edwards for the starting split end job.
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Signing Edwards indicates the Seahawks haven't bought fully into Tate's emergence just yet. The team has Sidney Rice for one outside receiver spot and Doug Baldwin manning the slot. Tate was the favorite for the starting split end job over guys like Ben Obomanu, Kris Durham and Ricardo Lockette.
Tate was widely viewed as the favorite for the gig. One report suggested that Tate was "toying" with cornerbacks. He professed a change in attitude.
"I never had to work for my position; it was always given to me," Tate said via The News Tribune. "I was always more athletic, so for the first time ever I felt like I had to work. It wasn't given to me."
It's not going to be given to him this year, either. All the positive talk is about Tate, but Seattle's signing says more than all the puff pieces combined.
"With the release of Mike Williams -- who's a bigger, stronger receiver -- we felt like there might be a little bit of a gap there, and (we were thinking), 'Let's give this guy a shot and bring him in,'" general manager John Schneider said.
The Seahawks signed Antonio Bryant before picking up Edwards. They want more options at Tate's position. They're acting like they need more weapons. Tate hasn't filled that gap yet.
