Gesicki is one of seven pending free agents the Bengals have officially extended so far.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
“I definitely knew that I was going to take the ‘Joe Burrow tax,’” Gesicki said, referring to a discount needed to stay in Cincinnati. “So, I knew that, and I was like, I’m cool with it. And so, it makes it easy to come back to a place like this. … There’s so many different guys (in the organization) that were in the back of my mind as I’m thinking about, you know, do I test the market?
“You hear about your value and all that kind of stuff and what it could be, and at that point, it’s just like, this is what I want. I wanted to go to Cincinnati, and I wanted to be in an offense that allowed me to reach my potential, and I think that this place gives me everything I’m looking for.”
Gesicki said he also had to be realistic about his price tag, knowing other important players, like Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, also were looking to get long-term deals done. He didn’t want to take “too big of a chunk” and possibly prevent someone else from staying.
Bengals coach Zac Taylor said it was “critical” to get Gesicki back, as a player who has shown consistency in his career and became a big weapon in Cincinnati’s offense, being able to play multiple roles.
“He’s a great piece of what we want to do on offense,” Taylor said. “We’ve got a lot of faith in him, myself as a head coach, as a play caller. I know Joe Burrow and he had a lot of chemistry together in the passing game, and so it’s really critical that we got him back to enable us to continue to do things that we did really well on offense.”
Cincinnati had been cycling through starting tight ends the past few years, moving on from Irv Smith Jr. after the 2023 season and letting Hayden Hurst walk after 2022. Gesicki proved his worth last season, ranking third in receptions and receiving yards with 65 catches for 665 yards – his best production since 2021.
In an interview before the Super Bowl, Burrow listed what he saw as the team’s priorities this offseason, and Gesicki was surprised to be included in that. Gesicki was sitting on the couch with his wife, Halle, and had to check to make sure he heard correctly.
“I was like ‘Halle, Mike G? I think he’s talking about me,’” Gesicki said. “When he said that, it was awesome, just because it shows the chemistry that we were able to build on the field, and the plays that we made on the field, and you know, the chemistry off the field, it all translated to that. And so it was a really cool moment. We definitely got some good laughs out of it.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Gesicki said he “owes a lot” to Burrow, and “having the best quarterback on planet Earth have your back, that helps.”
“I’m going to work my tail off every single day for the Cincinnati Bengals, but for Joe Burrow, because, I mean, he did so much for my career last year, just giving me the opportunity and believing in me and trusting me that, ‘Hey, Mike’s gonna win, I’m gonna throw the ball here,’ when you got Ja’Marr (Chase) or Tee (Higgins) who are attracting attention. But then off the field doing things like that, just mentioning my name and things like that. So, it was awesome.”
Earning a long-term deal with the Bengals also meant a lot to Gesicki. He hadn’t had much job security or stability since his rookie contract with the Miami Dolphins, who drafted him in the second round in 2018.
The Dolphins used their franchise tag on him in 2022 after a career-year in which he caught 73 passes for 780 yards and two touchdowns. That kept him in Miami another season, but then he settled for one-year contracts with New England and Cincinnati after that.
“This is the longest thing I’ve had since I got drafted, so it’s cool, especially with the journey that I’ve kind of been on,” Gesicki said. “I had the franchise tag, which was a one-year deal, New England, one-year deal, last year pretty much just begging everybody in the building to just give me a chance to come to Cincinnati. I knew that if I got my foot in the door here, that it was gonna be the perfect situation.
“So, now to capitalize on that and kind of see the vision before it happened, to kind of see that be what it is today, super grateful, and it feels good to be appreciated, to be wanted, to be valued, so I’m excited about it.”
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