By all appearances, the Seahawks had two major priorities in unrestricted free agency: defensive end Michael Bennett and receiver Golden Tate.
Now that Bennett has opted to sign a four-year, $28.5 million contract, what happens with Tate?
It could be that the Seahawks are handling Tate the same way they handled Bennett, letting Tate look for offer(s) elsewhere and swooping in once it appears that Tate has a suitor or two. With Bennett, showing up after another team thought the big free-agency fish was on the line worked, even with the Seahawks undercutting what he could have gotten elsewhere.
With Tate, there’s no guarantee the player will take less than he could get elsewhere to stay put. First, Tate has to have a serious suitor on the line. With a buyer’s market at the receiver position, Tate may not be getting significant offers; definitely not the five-year, $35 million package that as been floating around the Internet.
Regardless, the Seahawks seem to be content with letting someone else set the market before getting involved. For now, it’s unclear whether anyone is.