The Detroit Lions had a lot of possible factors to weigh before trading Golden Tate

The Lions are in last place Authentic Matt Prater Jersey , but only a game out of first. Tate is on pace for a third straight season with 1,000 yards receiving, but he's on an expiring contract."There are a lot of difficult decisions that are made in the NFL multiple times during the course of the year," Detroit coach Matt Patricia said Wednesday.The Lions dealt Tate to Philadelphia on Tuesday for a third-round draft pick, parting with the veteran receiver right before a pair of crucial divisional road games. Detroit faces Minnesota this weekend and then heads to Chicago, but the trade — which didn't bring the Lions anyone who can help this season — was clearly a move made with the long-term future in mind."It's a holistic picture of taking a look at what's the best thing for us to do as a team," Patricia said. "It's not about one player. It's about team. It's about everybody. We have a lot of guys that are really good on this team that can produce and honestly, for me, we have confidence in everybody that's on this team right now."General manager Bob Quinn released a statement Tuesday thanking Tate for his contributions, but it was left to Patricia to take questions about the organization's thinking. Tate is in the final season of his contract, so from that standpoint the Lions got decent value for a player who may have ended up elsewhere anyway.But it's hard to say what this year's team could have accomplished with Tate. Detroit fired coach Jim Caldwell after he went 9-7 last season, an indication the organization felt it was capable of more. Now the Lions have sent mixed signals about what they feel their potential is in 2018.Before last weekend's game, Detroit sent a draft pick to the New York Giants for defensive tackle Damon Harrison, a move that could help shore up the run defense. Then the Lions lost to Seattle last weekend and traded Tate.So Detroit was both a buyer and a seller at the deadline."We have coaches Youth Nevin Lawson Jersey , and I let those guys coach. We have managers, and I let those guys manage," safety Glover Quin said. "We have players, and our job is to go out and play, so the guys who we have to go out and play with, that's who we've got, and that's all that we can control."In trading Tate, the Lions seemed to move away from their approach of the past few years. Detroit has used draft picks and free agent signings to try to surround quarterback Matthew Stafford with plenty of help. The Lions have tried to upgrade their offensive line, and this year they appear to have made real progress with their running game.They also might have had more receiving targets than they needed. Marvin Jones is coming off his own 1,000-yard season, and second-year receiver Kenny Golladay looks like he could be a star."If everybody's just going to sit around here and mope, that's just not going to help the team," Marvin Jones said. "We're on to the Vikings."Still, Tate's production won't be easy to replace."He's had 90-plus catches I think every year he's been here http://www.lionsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-taylor-decker-jersey , so that's a lot of touches, a lot of targets for everyone to pick up," receiver TJ Jones said. "We're all going to collectively do it."NOTES: The Lions signed LB Kelvin Sheppard, signed DE Alex Barrett to the practice squad, and released TE Jerome Cunningham from the practice squad. ... DE Ziggy Ansah (shoulder), T Taylor Decker (back), G T.J. Lang (hip) and RB Theo Riddick (knee) were limited at practice.Breaking down the call: Did the Detroit Lions get hosed on a defensive holding call? In true Detroit Lions fashion, the team worked their way back from a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit, and for a moment, it looked like Matthew Stafford and company had added another historic comeback to the franchise’s history. Down just three points with over two minutes left, the San Francisco 49ers faced a third-and-2. Instead of running the ball, Kyle Shanahan dialed up a risky pass, and Lions rookie Tracy Walker made them pay, stepping in front of the pass intended for 49ers running back Matt Breida. The play set the Lions up for first-and-goal at the Niners’ 6-yard line. But the Lions never ended up getting the ball. There was a flag on the play. Lions cornerback Quandre Diggs was called for defensive holding Authentic Sylvester Williams Jersey , not only negating the play, but giving the 49ers a fresh set of downs to run another minute off the clock.Was the call right? Let’s break it down.Here’s another look at the play. Diggs is lined up in the slot over San Francisco tight end George Kittle:There is clearly some contact there, but it’s hard to see if there’s an actual hold happening there. Either way, it doesn’t seem like the foul is particularly egregious. I know time and situation doesn’t come into play when officiating a game, but we’re talking about the most pivotal play in the game here, and a receiver that wasn’t even looked at for the play. To make such a critical call in the game, you’d hope the foul was a little more blatant than that.Here are Diggs’ thoughts on the call:Regardless of the controversial call, the Lions still had an opportunity to win the game late. Despite the fresh set of downs for San Francisco, the Lions defense forced a punt, giving Detroit’s offense the ball back with 53 seconds left. They worked the ball to midfield before turning over the ball on downs.The Lions are ultimately to blame for the loss, but it sure doesn’t seem like the refs gave them any favors.