Bengals QB Joe Burrow has spoken up since the end of the season about hoping certain teammates get paid this offseason. TE Mike Gesicki, who's set to hit unrestricted free agency in March, has ranked among the teammates Burrow wants to keep around.
Burrow on Jan. 4: "That guy was so valuable for us all year, and a guy that, in my opinion, we need to bring back."
OC Dan Pitcher, in December: "There's just a major trust that's been established with Joe that Mike is going to win in one-on-one situations. That sounds simple, but, man, it takes time to really trust a guy to do that, and then he's going to make difficult catches."
The Bengals are bound to want to please their franchise QB and surround him with trusted, worthwhile receiving options. Whether Cincinnati actually re-signs Gesicki, though, will also depend on cost.
The team previously watched TE C.J. Uzomah turn his best season in Cincinnati (49-493-5 receiving line in 2021) into a multi-year contract with the Jets that he didn't live up to.
Then TE Hayden Hurst turned his one-year Bengals pact (2022) into a too-big contract with Carolina, which dumped him after the first year.
Gesicki's 65-665-2 line for 2024 beat both guys in receptions and yards. But he also heads into his age-30 season in 2025.
We'll see what the market has in store.
If you're drafting best ball teams right now, don't treat Gesicki as a sure thing to remain in Cincinnati.
Even if he does re-sign with the Bengals, Gesicki's overall 2024 production masked large differences between games with and without WR Tee Higgins.
Gesicki averaged 5.2 receptions and 62.4 yards and scored both his TDs in the five games Higgins missed. He averaged 3.25 receptions and 29.4 yards across the other 12 contests -- and even those numbers got a boost from two big outings to finish the year.
Higgins is also headed to free agency, but many expect Cincinnati to keep him around -- perhaps even using the franchise tag.
In short, you can mix Gesicki into your late TE picks. Just don't overrate the potential here.
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