Gesicki Having Fun Heading Into Free Agency
Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams raised some eyebrows recently with his comments about his preferred destination being the Miami Dolphins when he enters the NFL draft.
"I like to be around younger coaches," Williams told People magazine. "I'd probably go to the Dolphins. I also would be able to play with Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, Mike Gesicki. The defense isn't bad. That's probably my number one spot."
As the likely first overall pick in the 2024 draft should he leave USC early, his wish of ending up with the Dolphins doesn't seem to have much of a shot given that Miami is coming off a playoff appearance and is more likely to reach the Super Bowl than get the No. 1 overall pick.
There's another slight problem with Williams' wish, and it involves Gesicki.
The five-year NFL veteran is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent March 15 and the chances of him remaining in Miami appear slim at best, given his diminished role in 2022 after the team put the franchise tag on him last offseason.
Gesicki sure seemed to point that out on Twitter.
GESICKI AND HIS FREE AGENT MARKET
Despite having his fewest catches and receiving yards since his rookie season of 2018, the 2022 season shouldn't drastically hurt Gesicki's market value because he already had established himself as a good seam threat for any team that values tight ends that way.
That clearly didn't seem to be the Dolphins once Mike McDaniel arrived as head coach.
The argument actually could be made that Gesicki probably wouldn't have gotten the franchise tag last year had the Dolphins had advance knowledge they would get Tyreek Hill in the trade with Kansas City and another argument could be made they would have rescinded the tag had Gesicki not already signed it.
Regardless, Gesicki should have plenty of suitors in free agency and he's clearly in good spirits.
Before his tweet about Williams, he posted this on Twitter:
Spotrac has estimated Gesicki's market value at $8.1 million annually, which is a decent drop from the $10.9 million he earned in 2022.
Then again, a player is worth whatever any team is willing to pay him, so who's to say that Gesicki can't reach $10 million annually. There's probably a better chance of that happening than of Caleb Williams winding up with the Dolphins.
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