The past three times the Miami Dolphins used the franchise or transition tag, the player they slapped it on ended up playing elsewhere that very same season.
Pro Bowl receiver Jarvis Landry got traded to Cleveland when the Dolphins weren’t willing to give him the multi-year deal he deserved.
Tight end Charles Clay and defensive end Olivier Vernon were issued the transition tag, and used free agency to price themselves out of South Florida, eventually signing with the Buffalo Bills and New York Giants.
History could be repeating itself with Mike Gesicki, which is why the franchise tag Miami placed on the former second-round pick Tuesday is little more than a Band-Aid trying to stop the bleeding of a wound that needs surgery.
Gesicki isn’t a good fit for these new-look Dolphins, but it seems as if Miami is attempting to retain his services with this one-year deal, trying to force a square peg into a round hole.
Durham Smythe started more games than Gesicki the past four years (41 to 30), and the discrepancy in their snap count for this past season is 112 offensive snaps (828 to 712) that favor Gesicki.
It’s not that Smythe, who is also a free agent, is close in talent to Gesicki, who would get $10.9 million in 2022 as a franchise-tagged tight end. He might get more if he files an appeal on the grounds he was used more as a receiver (which has a $19.1 million price tag), even if an arbitrator forces his camp and the Dolphins meet somewhere in the middle (say $14 million-$15 million range).
The reason for Smythe’s heavy usage the past few seasons is because Gesicki has proven he’s a liability in the areas of the game that don’t involve running routes and catching passes.
And unfortunately for the Dolphins, who intend to build a run-centric offense under new coach Mike McDaniel, the tight end position just became extremely important, especially the in-line, blocking aspect of the job.
That means either Smythe needs to be re-signed, the Dolphins need to find an upgrade for him, or Hunter Long, a 2021 third-round pick, gets his call up to the starting unit. That’s because expecting Gesicki to become a respectable blocker five years into his career is comical.
Even general manager Chris Grier said last week Gesicki’s blocking remains troublesome, after all these years.
“We all know what Mike needs to try and improve on, it’s run blocking,” Grier said. “He’s a pass catcher.”
At this point, Gesicki is more of a slot receiver than a tight end, and if McDaniel thinks he can do something two other head coaches (Adam Gase and Brian Flores) tried and failed at, he’s making his first mistake.
Teams stopped covering Gesicki with a linebacker years ago, and when he’s on the boundary as Miami’s Y receiver, which was the case plenty last season — justifying his appeal for the receiver designation — teams rarely ever subbed out the cornerback to defend him with a safety.
Even in the slot, Gesicki wasn’t dynamic because he lacked the quickness needed to get open in short-yardage areas, which is critical to make himself quarterback-friendly like Landry, Davone Bess or Wes Welker would during their Dolphins days.
Making matters worse, despite his 6-foot-6 frame and jumping ability, the Dolphins failed to make him a red-zone threat, for whatever reason. Last year, Miami used Mack Hollins in red-zone and goal-line situations, which somewhat explains why Gesicki only scored two touchdowns in 2021.
It’s understandable that McDaniel and his staff see a talented, rangy playmaker and think they can polish him up and make him a weapon. Who wouldn’t be enticed by the 199 receptions Gesicki has turned into 2,255 yards and 13 touchdowns?
Exploring that is worth $11 million in 2022. And maybe, just maybe, they can extract more out of the former Penn State standout.
But what if they can’t? Or what if the price jumps to $14 million or more?
That type of cap space can be used to add three, if not four starters.
The point I’m making is that Gesicki is an intriguing piece, a unique player whose usage requires some creativity. But he’s not a vital piece.
Not for this team, which intends to build a bullish rushing attack.
The tight end who blocks is a vital piece.
A true, all-purpose, do-everything tight end like O.J. Howard or Eric Ebron, players who can do every aspect of the job required to keep opponents off balance, is what’s needed.
And that’s why the Dolphins should be focused on adding that type of player instead of paying a big ticket price to lease Gesicki for another season.
Former Dolphins vice president of football operations Mike Tannenbaum used to call this “graduations,” pointing out that not every veteran a team has developed is meant to end their career with their initial franchise.
The Dolphins would be wise to let Gesicki leave now and begin this era with players who are more suited for the physical style McDaniel’s team intends to play moving forward.
