Golden Tate on Jarvis Landry’s monster contract extension: ‘GET YOUR MONEY’

On Thursday, NFL Network reported that the Cleveland Browns and receiver Jarvis Landry are finalizing a massive five-year extension. According to Ian Rapoport, it’s a five-year, $75.5 million deal with a whopping $47 million guaranteed.

Those numbers place him sixth in the NFL among receivers by average salary per year, which is stunning considering most people consider Landry to be a slot receiver.

Of course, calling him a slot receiver is only telling half the story. Since entering the league in 2014, only two receivers (Antonio Brown and Julio Jones) have caught more passes than Landry.

A player that lands just three spots below Landry on that list resides in Detroit and his name is Golden Tate. Like Landry, Tate is seeking an extension this offseason. Back in 2014, the Lions inked Tate to an incredibly economical five-year, $31 million deal.

So how does a player who has produced similar results to Landry feel about the contract his Cleveland doppelganger just signed? Pretty good, according to Tate’s Twitter account:

As pointed out by MLive’s Nate Atkins, the two have produced remarkably similar stats over the past four year:

Jarvis Landry

2014: 16 games, 84 catches, 758 yards, 5 TDs, 75 percent catch rate
2015: 16 games, 110 catches, 1,157 yards, 4 TDs, 66 percent catch rate
2016: 16 games, 94 catches, 1,136 yards, 4 TDs, 72 percent catch rate
2017: 16 games, 112 catches, 987 yards, 9 TDs, 70 percent catch rate
Total: 64 games, 400 catches, 4,038 yards, 22 TDs, 70 percent catch rate

Golden Tate

2014: 16 games, 99 catches, 1,331 yards, 4 TDs, 69 percent catch rate
2015: 16 games, 90 catches, 813 yards, 6 TDs, 70 percent catch rate
2016: 16 games, 91 catches, 1,077 yards, 4 TDs, 67 percent catch rate
2017: 16 games, 92 catches, 1,003 yards, 5 TDs, 77 percent catch rate
Total: 64 games, 372 catches, 4,224 yards, 19 TDs, 71 percent catch rate

But the major different here is age. Tate will be 30 years old by the time the season starts, while Landry is just 25. Contracts are not a reward for what you have accomplished already, but rather a projection of your worth in the future.

Tate is almost certainly going to get a raise next year, but probably not quite on the level that Landry just got. At this point in their respective careers, Landry’s future is probably brighter than Tate’s.

Either way, Tate has taken notice of this contract and is undoubtedly sending a message with this Tweet. He wants to get paid, too. That leaves the Lions with a tough decision either this offseason or next. During the owners meetings last month, general manager Bob Quinn said he has not begun talks with Tate about a possible extension, but admitted those kind of talks would be saved for the summer, if they were to take place.