Monday Dolphins Notebook: Gesicki Signs Tag, Grading the Moves, Who Got Away, Cap Talk, More
On a day when they came to terms with three players from other teams and re-signed Emmanuel Ogbah, the Miami Dolphins checked off another box with tight end Mike Gesicki.
The 2018 second-round pick signed his franchise tag tender, which guaranteed him $9.31 million for 2022. The move doesn't preclude the Dolphins from signing him to a long-term extension if that's a route they want to choose, though there's a July 15 for that to get done.
Gesicki became the first free agent to sign his franchise tag tender this year, and the move silenced the notion he might challenge being labeled as a tight end based on his usage — the way Jimmy Graham unsuccessfully challenged several years back when he argued he should be labeled as a wide receiver, which would have produced a more lucrative franchise tag number.
DOLPHINS PICK UP SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER
The Dolphins' flurry of activity didn't stop once we reached evening hours Monday, with the team agreeing to terms with special teams standout Keion Crossen, according to PFN's Aaron Wilson.
A seventh-round pick of the Patriots in 2018, Crossen played 16 games for the New York Giants last season, though all but 23 of his 332 snaps came on special teams.
Interestingly, Crossen already has been traded twice in his career, from the Patriots to the Texans in 2019 and then to the Giants last season.
Signing special teams specialists was something the Dolphins did last offseason as well when they picked up Duke Riley, Brennan Scarlett and Cethan Carter — the first two are scheduled to become UFAs on Wednesday.
GRADING THE DOLPHINS MOVES
The Dolphins had made five moves as of 8 p.m. ET Monday involving the signing (or agreeing to terms) with free agents, and those involved Ogbah, Chase Edmonds, Cedrick Wilson Jr., Teddy Bridgewater and Crossen.
The first two, at the very least, got positive reviews from two national outlets — ESPN and Sports Illustrated.
The move to re-sign Ogbah earned a B+ from both outlets; picking up Edmonds got a B+ from SI and a B- from ESPN.
The other two moves weren't graded because they occurred later in the day.
This is what ESPN's Dan Graziano said about the Edmonds acquisition: "A lot of people were waiting to see who Mike McDaniel's running back would be, since he and Kyle Shanahan were able to make magic with so many different people at that position in San Francisco. Edmonds is a player who can do a lot of things McDaniel will want his running back to do, both as a runner and a pass-catcher. He has never had more touches in a season than the 159 he had last year, when he missed five games due to injury. But he turns 26 in April, and the Dolphins could be getting a talented back who hasn't been overused so far, and getting him at the beginning of his prime. I won't be surprised if Edmonds becomes a star in a McDaniel offense."
THOSE FREE AGENTS WHO GOT AWAY
Because you can't get everybody, several free agents who either had been linked to the Dolphins or clearly could have helped ended up agreeing to terms with a different team or being re-signed.
That list includes guard Laken Tomlinson (going to the Jets), guard Brandon Scherff (going to Jacksonville), center Ben Jones (re-signed with Tennessee), wide receiver Braxton Berrios (re-signing with the Jets) and guard Roger Saffold (signing with Buffalo).
The one who stands out on that list obviously is Tomlinson because he's coming off a Pro Bowl season working in Mike McDaniel's offense.
And for those who had a notion of the Dolphins going after cornerback J.C. Jackson, that idea vanished when he agreed to terms on a mammoth contract with the L.A. Chargers.
DOLPHINS CAP CONSIDERATIONS
For those keeping track of such things, the Dolphins structured Ogbah's contract in such a way that he'll have a modest 2022 cap number of $7.6 million, per overthecap.com.
His contract includes a $13 million signing bonus and fully guaranteed salaries of $4 million in 2022 and $15 million in 2023.
Ogbah will have no guaranteed salary beyond 2023, though he'd had $6.5 million of prorated signing bonus left in the final two years of the deal (2024, 2025).
Edmonds also has a modest cap number in 2022 at $4.05 million, per overthecap.com, though it jumps to $8.05 million in 2023.
