What Now for Gesicki and His Future with Dolphins?

The deadline to sign Mike Gesicki to a long-term contract this summer passed without a new deal

What now for Mike Gesicki beyond the 2022 season?

As expected, the deadline for the Miami Dolphins to sign their tight end to a long-term extension came and went Friday without a new deal being struck.

That means that Gesicki will play the 2022 season under the franchise tag he signed in March and will receive $10.9 million this year.

But this also means that Gesicki is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent next spring and his future with the team clearly is in doubt as he prepares for his first season under new head coach Mike McDaniel.

GETTING TO THIS POINT WITH GESICKI

That the Dolphins didn't sign Gesicki to a long-term deal seemed the logical conclusion for a couple of reasons.

The first is the team's depth at the position, particularly after the Dolphins selected Hunter Long in the third round of the 2021 draft.

Perhaps more significant, though, is the question of just how well Gesicki will fit in McDaniel's offensive scheme. McDaniel was very complimentary in the offseason about how Gesicki attacked the challenge of becoming a better blocker, but the reality is we won't know for sure just how well he can fit until the regular season begins.

So it makes sense that the Dolphins want some answers in that regard before committing to a long-term deal with Gesicki.

Gesickimade it clear in the offseason he would have preferred signing a long-term deal than having to play on the franchise tag number in 2022, which is what pretty much every player in the NFL would want given the desire for long-term stability.

Instead, Gesicki again will be in a contract year in 2022 with a big question mark about his future with the team.

THE DOLPHINS HISTORY WITH THE TAG

2018 — WR Jarvis Landry

Despite his impressive production, Landry and the Dolphins were ready to turn the page after four seasons, so they put the franchise tag on him and then turned around and traded him to the Cleveland Browns for a fourth-round pick in 2018 and a seventh-round pick in 2019.

The Dolphins turned those picks into Smythe and Myles Gaskin, while Landry got a big contract extension with the Browns that Miami wasn't willing to give him.

Landry hasn't been able to match his Miami production in Cleveland and he's coming off a frustrating injury-plagued season that had him take to Twitter to state his case.

2016 — DE Olivier Vernon

This one was interesting,

The Dolphins put the transition tag on Vernon after he had 29 sacks in four years, only to rescind it eight days later after they signed veteran Mario Williams as a free agent. That made Vernon an unrestricted free agent and he signed a five-year, $85 million contract with the New York Giants, for whom he played three seasons before being traded to the Browns.

Vernon remained a very good player after leaving the Dolphins, though he has failed to play a complete season since his first year with the Giants in 2016 and he didn't play in 2021 after sustaining a torn Achilles tendon late the previous season.

2015 — TE Charles Clay

In 2015, the Dolphins placed the transition tag on Clay, giving them the right to match any offer he received from another team. But Miami declined to do just that when Buffalo came in with a five-year deal worth $38 million.

In retrospect, this was the right call for the Dolphins. Clay had 69 and 58 catches his final two seasons in Miami but never matched those numbers for the Bills or the Arizona Cardinals after moving there and he also never matched his receiving yardage totals of those 2013 and 2014 seasons when he had 759 and 605 yards.

2013 — DT Randy Starks

The Dolphins signed Starks to a five-year deal as an up-and-coming player in 2008 and that move will go down as one of the team's best-ever free agent signing.

After Starks made the Pro Bowl in his fourth and fifth seasons, the Dolphins made sure to hang on to him to putting the franchise tag and then the following year they re-signed him as a UFA. He remained a solid player through his sixth and seventh (and final) season with the Dolphins, though he didn't return to the Pro Bowl.

2011 — DT Paul Soliai

Soliai took some time to develop as a fourth-round pick in the 2007 draft, but by the time he completed his fourth season in 2010, he had become a very, very good interior defensive lineman, so the Dolphins made sure to keep him by putting the franchise tag on him.

Soliai rewarded the Dolphins by turning in a Pro Bowl season in 2011 and Miami re-signed him to a two-year contract the following offseason before Soliai eventually left as a UFA in 2014.

2000 — T Richmond Webb

The ninth overall pick in the 1990 draft, Webb made the Pro Bowl in each of his first six seasons for the Dolphins and they put the franchise tag on him before his final season in Miami.

1994 — DT Tim Bowens

One of the most underappreciated Dolphins players through the years, Bowens was good enough in his first four seasons that the team put the franchise tag on him and he rewarded them (like Soliai) with a Pro Bowl season.

The Dolphins then signed Bowens to a couple of five-year contracts before his contract eventually ended in 2005.