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Wide receiver Golden Tate finished his 11-year career with the New York Giants, working with then-rookie quarterback Daniel Jones. The former NFL player is now (unofficially) retired and playing minor league baseball. Although he’s no longer in the NFL, Tate still has some strong opinions about what happens on the gridiron. He recently shared his thoughts about how the Giants have done Jones wrong during his tenure.

Golden Tate thinks Daniel Jones got a raw deal from the New York Giants and its coaching staff

Daniel Jones and Golden Tate of the New York Giants bump fists.
Golden Tate and Daniel Jones | Mike Stobe/Getty Images

Wide receiver Golden Tate had a solid decade-plus career in the NFL. Playing for four teams, he recorded 695 catches for 8,278 yards and scored 46 touchdowns. He spent four-plus years with the Detroit Lions, so he knows about dysfunctional NFL organizations.

When NJ.com caught up with the aspiring minor league baseball player, though, he didn’t have any harsh words for the Lions. He only took shots at the New York Giants.

At a gold event in New Jersey, Tate said of Giants QB Daniel Jones that the signal-caller has “a ton of talent” and is a “smart guy” who makes “good decisions.” Tate does admit that injuries (both to Jones and his skill position players) are partially to blame for his lack of success.

However, Tate saved his criticism for the Giants organization and “how they set it up” with the coaching staff:

I honestly feel bad for Daniel. He was drafted into a rebuilding organization for one, had Pat Shurmur for a year, and then got Joe Judge for two years, now another head coach and another rebuild going into his fourth season. He hasn’t had Saquon [Barkley], myself, [Kenny] Golladay, Sterling [Shepard] – no one is ever on the field at the same time. And then, on top of that, he had [Jason] Garrett [as his offensive coordinator], and that probably didn’t help much.

Golden Tate on the New York Giants and Daniel Jones

Tate obviously isn’t a fan of Shurmur, Judge, or Garrett. He does hold out hope for new head coach Brain Daboll and his staff, though. The Notre Dame alum says he’s “looking forward to [them] just letting him loose.”

The upcoming season is make-or-break for Jones. He is entering the final year of his rookie contract, and although the Giants passed on drafting a quarterback despite having two top 10 picks this year, the QB Class of 2023 could offer up to six first-round signal-callers.

If Jones doesn’t perform to the level Tate thinks he can in 2022, one of those QBs will undoubtedly be wearing Giants blue next season.

All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference

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Tim Crean

Tim Crean started writing about sports in 2016 and joined Sportscasting in 2021. He excels with his versatile coverage of the NFL and soccer landscape, as well as his expertise breaking down sports media, which stems from his many years downloading podcasts before they were even cool and countless hours spent listening to Mike & The Mad Dog and The Dan Patrick Show, among other programs.

As a longtime self-professed sports junkie who even played DII lacrosse at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York, Tim loves reading about all the latest sports news every day and considers it a dream to write about sports professionally. He’s a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan from Western New York who mistakenly thought, back in the early ’90s, that his team would be in the Super Bowl every year. He started following European soccer — with a Manchester City focus — in the early 2000s after spending far too much time playing FIFA.

When he’s not enjoying a round of golf or coaching youth soccer and flag football, Tim likes reading the work of Bill Simmons, Tony Kornheiser, Chuck Klosterman, and Tom Wolfe.