Golden Tate says he left Seattle because their offer was ‘laughable’

Oct 17, 2013; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Golden Tate (81) against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

After spending his career in Seattle, Golden Tate is now a member of the Detroit Lions, even though he originally wanted to remain a Seahawk.

Tate was on 710 ESPN Seattle on Tuesday and expressed frustration in Seattle for not working harder to keep him on their roster.

After the 2013 season ended, Tate said that he would take a pay-cut to remain with the Seahawks, but he was appalled at what Seattle offered instead.

“I didn’t mean a 40 percent discount,” Tate said on Tuesday. “I’m going to earn in one year at Detroit what Seattle was going to pay me for two years. Seattle offered numbers that were laughable. I thought, ‘I’ve given you everything and this is what you give me?’

“Considering I was there for four years, and started two of those years. I missed one game in those two years. I did everything right and wasn’t a trouble maker. And what they offered, I was like, ‘Is this serious?’ The numbers [the Seahawks] shot at me were not first-priority, like they said they wanted to do for me to stay in Seattle.”

Tate, instead, signed a five-year, $31 million deal with Detroit last week to play side-kick to the Lions’ Calvin Johnson.

And he said he has no regrets.

“If you have an opportunity to earn way more money in another city, you’ll leave in a second,” he said. “Every single person in the world would have done what I did.”

Tate also expressed his frustration in the fans whom he felt he “played [his] tail off every game” for.

“People are starting to show their true colors,” said Tate. “I think the world of the 12’s, but there is a large group who very quickly turned on me. It kind of bothered me because I felt like I gave everything I possibly could to the city of Seattle.”

While many Seahawks fans will miss Tate, the focus has already shifted to finding his replacement. Seattle has reportedly been in talks with former Seahawk Sidney Rice and ex-Titan Kenny Britt.

And, in case you were wondering, the Seahawks will not play Detroit next season, but they do have a game scheduled for 2015 at CenturyLink Field.