At this point, it is no great secret that tight end Mike Gesicki has likely already played his last down of football for the Miami Dolphins.
Gesicki seemed frustrated with his lack of use in the Dolphins offense for much of the 2022 NFL season. He’ll be a free agent this offseason, and there was reportedly a lot of chatter about him during Super Bowl week as a player who could massively improve if inserted into the right offense.
FA TE Mike Gesicki was a name I heard a lot of buzz on during Super Bowl week. “He will be so much better once he’s in an offense that designs routes for his skill set,” one executive told me. “He’s a 70-80 catch guy when schemed for.”
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) February 14, 2023
Gesicki saw a massive decline in production in the 2022 campaign compared to the numbers he posted over the three previous seasons.
In the 2022 season, he recorded just 32 catches (52 targets) for 362 yards and five touchdowns. While he scored three more touchdowns this past season than he did in the 2021 campaign, virtually all his other numbers were down.
In the 2021 season, Gesicki had 73 grabs on 112 targets for 780 yards. In the season before, he recorded 53 catches on 85 targets for 703 yards and a career-high six touchdowns.
Clearly, Gesicki has what it takes to produce at a rather high level in the NFL. When given the opportunity, he can do a lot more damage than he was able to do in the most recent NFL campaign.
Last month, Gesicki spoke about his future and seemed to indicate that the idea of him returning to Miami isn’t out of the question.
“Yeah, I mean, it’ll be interesting for sure,” Gesicki said during locker cleanout day. “I don’t really know how it all works. I’m going to meet with my agent at some point in the near future. I’m gonna go upstairs and talk to (GM Chris Grier) and Mike [McDaniel] and those guys today and just kind of gauge their expectations and what they’re thinking moving forward to see if I got to keep cleaning out this locker or not. But, ultimately, we’ll see how it all plays out.”
Though he did seem to leave the door for a potential return open, the general expectation is that he will indeed sign elsewhere.
Given his desire to play a bigger role, it stands to reason that he is going to prioritize teams that are known to utilize tight ends in the passing game.
As for the Dolphins, it will be interesting to see if the team’s front office makes an attempt to acquire a new tight end — either via free agency or the draft — to help fill the void that seems likely to be left by Gesicki’s departure.
