The deadline for teams to work out a long-term deal for players designated with the franchise tag was last Friday. The Miami Dolphins and Mike Gesicki didn’t agree and probably didn’t even have a lot of dialog to begin with. That’s just a guess on my part because the Dolphins were on the fence about putting Gesicki on the franchise tag, and there are questions as to whether Gesicki would fit into the new offense being installed by new coach Mike McDaniel. 


Gesicki is a terrific pass catcher, but his blocking is marginal at best, and under the new coaching staff, blocking is going to be key for the receivers and tight ends. If this new coaching staff can get him to block properly, they will make the previous staff look bad. McDaniel knows he has a talented playmaker in Gesicki and probably wants to get the most out of him to make this offense better for an offense going into the off-season that didn’t have any real playmakers. Gesicki signed his franchise tag and will play on the $10 million salary this year. After this year, we shall see what happens. If he fits in, the Dolphins can consider extending him to a new contract next year. If not, then the Dolphins can let him walk after the season or possibly trade him before the trade deadline. However, first we have to get to training camp and see how things go. 


Gesicki is either lined up in the slot or on the outside, not on the in line like most tight ends. However, the Dolphins control his rights and can do that. The Dolphins were cheap with Gesicki this off-season by putting him on the tight end franchise tag when he’s more of a receiver than tight end, so the Dolphins saved a few million by doing that. 

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If the Dolphins decide after the season that they want to lock up Gesick, they might have some problems. The Dolphins spent a lot of money this off-season reworking Xavien Howard’s contract, giving Emmanual Ogbah a new contract, and not only trading five draft picks for Tyreek Hill but also giving him a new contract with $70 million guaranteed. Not to mention the Dolphins gave a big contract to Terron Armstead. The Dolphins might not have the cap space as last year’s next offseason, but there are ways around that. 


The Dolphins are at the point in this rebuilding process where they have to decide which players they want to pay or let walk. The Dolphins exercised the 5th year option on Christian Wilkins next year and he’s probably going to get an extension sometime soon since he is one of the better young defensive tackles in the game. Gesicki plays a position tight end-wide receiver where you can find guys in the draft or free agency to replace. The question will be what will the Dolphins decide to do? Right now, I’d say the Dolphins are on borrowed time with Gesicki this year because the skilled players are getting paid big money and they are going to continue to get paid. The question is whether the Dolphins pony up next year when the price is going to be much more to keep Gesicki than it is this year.Â