The Bengals have re-signed Brandon Tate to a 1-year deal and while some Bengals fans might be happy to hear that the team has secured the reliable wide receiver and kick returner, who has never missed a game in his five year career in Cincinnati, others may not be as thrilled to hear the news.
Tate's tenure in Cincinnati has been marked with controversy surrounding his generally dull and occasionally poor kick returning performances. But, he's also someone you know what to expect from and on occasion, he's been able to make big plays.
Why it could be a great idea
The Bengals don't have many other natural kick returners on the team who have experience returning in the NFL, other than Adam Jones, who is a free agent. Jones has been one of the most dynamic punt/kick returners in the NFL for the last few years, averaging 11.3 yards per punt return and 26.9 yards per kick return. But, whether he returns in free agency is still to be determined and, if he is retained, at 32-years-old, the Bengals probably want to limit how often they're using him on special teams. Having a reliable returner like Tate who is rarely hurt and never misses a game could be very useful.
Let's also not forget that, as a wide receiver, Tate has been known to contribute from time to time, such as this play from Week 4 of the 2015 season, which was one of the Bengals and one of the NFL's best plays of the 2015 season.
Over his five years in Cincinnati, he's contributed 1,411 return yards and a touchdown on top of 57 receptions for 469 yards and three touchdowns. That all comes with only starting in seven total games for the Bengals in his career. He doesn't make many highlight reel catches, but he does make a few and, for the right price, seems like a great re-signing for the Bengals.
Why it could be a terrible idea
Tate has struggled to find any sort of valuable consistency throughout his career. Yes, his receiving numbers compared to his number of starts are fairly impressive for a 28-year-old receiver who has only started seven games. However, his numbers compared to his total number of games played (56) are unimpressive, and then there's the whole issue of just not being very good at returning the ball.
Tate has been designated as the Bengals "fall-back" option at kick returner during his five year career here. Unfortunately, that designation has only resulted in a single touchdown in five years, an average of 24.3 yards per return, and 12 fumbles throughout his career with the team. On top of his fumbling issue, he has had a recent string of problems with hesitating before running the ball out of the endzone - resulting in the offense setting up around their own 5-15 yard line. The fact of the matter is Tate's occasional reckless returns hurt the team and the lackluster nature of most of the rest of his returns don't really make up for it.
But, importantly, there's no guarantee that re-signing Tate means he'll make the final roster, though, the team has historically stuck by Tate despite usually not performing very well in his most notable role.
Sound off in the comments and poll below, Bengals fans! What are your thoughts on the re-signing?