Philadelphia Eagles debate table: Will Golden Tate make Pro Bowl?

It’s a question that may make you smile if you think about it. Can Golden Tate return to the Pro Bowl as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last 24 hours, you’ve already heard the news. With a little over two hours to go before the NFL trade deadline, Howie Roseman did it again, and the Philadelphia Eagles landed Golden Tate.

In exchange, they sent a third-round pick to the Detroit Lions.

Expectations have returned in Philly.

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Here’s the most beautiful part of that entire scenario. Tate doesn’t have to overextend himself. He doesn’t have to be better than Alshon Jeffery or Zach Ertz. All he has to do is be a healthy compliment and make the most of opportunities when they come his way.

That shouldn’t be a problem.

Here’s a very realistic scenario. At 4-4, the Philadelphia Eagles aren’t out of the playoff hunt. Part of their problem in 2018 after the injury to Mike Wallace has been an inability to find another outside weapon for their quarterback, Carson Wentz. Tate can solve that problem.

With Tate, Philly’s added another go-to guy on a team that already has several. Jeffery has helped the passing game tremendously with his return. We already know what Ertz is capable of. Dallas Goedert continues to improve, and with Tate’s acquisition, Philly now has two explosive receivers, both Tate and Nelson Agholor, who can play both outside and in the slot receiver position.

If Philly’s offense improves now, Tate will get a lot of credit for that happening, and we could be looking at his first Pro Bowl nod since 2014, a year where he snagged 99 receptions for 1,331 yards. He also reached the end zone four times that season.

It isn’t impossible. Whenever the Pro Bowl ballots drop, fans tend to vote for their own players and they tend to vote for recognizable players. Tate commanded attention in Detroit. Now that he’s with the defending Super Bowl champs, he’ll get more television time. He’ll also get a few more eyeballs on him.

Sometimes, that’s all it takes for guys to get in.

If the Eagles improve and begin to show some consistency on offense, and if Tate has some good showings while that happens, we may be looking at some serious Pro Bowl consideration. That is, unless he falls into the shadow of some of his other teammates, namely Zach Ertz and Alshon Jeffery. We’ll have to wait and see what happens.