Patriots concur with ex-Dolphins TE Mike Gesicki

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The New England Patriots have actually accepted a one-year handle totally free representative tight end Mike Gesicki that deserves approximately $9 million, sources informed ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Field Yates.

Gesicki will couple with veteran Hunter Henry to provide the Patriots a tight end duo the group hoped it was getting when it signed Henry and Jonnu Smith to big-money handle totally free company in 2021. The group traded Smith to the Atlanta Falcons on Monday for a seventh-round draft choice.

Gesicki had actually been hired to Penn State by brand-new Patriots offending organizer Bill O’Brien in 2014 and dedicated to the school. But O’Brien quickly left to end up being coach of the Houston Texans, while Gesicki remained at Penn State. Now they are reunited in New England.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick has actually long appreciated Gesicki, stating in the last few years: “He’s a hard guy to cover. Long. Crafty route runner. He can get down the field. Very good hands. Makes some acrobatic catches, has enough quickness to separate. He’s really, I would say, more of a big receiver than a true tight end, but he functions a little bit in that spot.”

Coming off a profession season in 2021, Gesicki had a sharp analytical decrease in 2022 as he wasn’t a hand-in-glove fit in brand-new Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel’s offending plan, which needs competent obstructing from tight ends.

Gesicki, 27, captured just 32 passes for 362 lawns — his least expensive overalls in both classifications because his 2018 novice season — while seeing action on simply 451 offending snaps after delivering his beginning task to Durham Smythe late in training school. As a contrast, Gesicki captured 73 passes for 780 lawns — both profession highs — on 784 offending snaps in 2021.

Gesicki played the 2022 season — his 5th with the Dolphins — on the franchise tag worth $10.931 million.

His 6-foot-6 frame — and his capability to bend to the slot or out broad — provides a size benefit over protective backs and a speed benefit over linebackers who cover him.

In 5 seasons, Gesicki, a second-round choice, has 231 receptions for 2,617 lawns — approximately 11.3 lawns per catch — and 18 goals.

ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques and Matt Bowen added to this report.