CINCINNATI — When Mike Gesicki landed in Cincinnati on Wednesday night to sign with the Bengals, it marked the end of a two-month journey.
“Since the day the season ended, I’ve been talking about Cincinnati, just because I knew the opportunity it presents,” Gesicki said Thursday after officially signing his one-year, $2.5 million contract.
“There’s not many opportunities out there with the type of offense, with the type of quarterback play that this place presents,” Gesicki continued. “So the second it happened, the second they called, I was like, ‘Halle, we might be going to Cincinnati.’ And she was just as excited as me because she knows how important it is to me.”
Mike Gesicki Gets Wish, Signs With Cincinnati Bengals
Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said Gesicki is a player the team has been following for a long time beyond simply facing him four times in his first five seasons with the Miami Dolphins.
In his six-year career, Gesicki has caught 260 passes for 2,861 yards and 20 touchdowns.
#Patriots TE Mike Gesicki with the go-ahead TD on #NationalTightEndsDay 🔥
— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) October 22, 2023
When Gesicki hit free agency for the first time last offseason, there were some discussions about the Bengals possibly being a fit, but he didn’t have any conversations with the organization.
That, of course, changed this week when the Bengals negotiated the contract with Gesicki’s agent, Jimmy Sexton, on Tuesday. Then, Cincinnati coach James Casey wasted no time calling him as soon as they were allowed.
“Coach Casey called me, and I think it was 4 o’clock and two seconds,” Gesicki said, referring to the official start of the new league year and permissible coach-player contact at 4 p.m. “It’s cool because you know what kind of people you’re surrounding with. And these coaches, from what I’ve heard and now what I’ve experienced today, everybody’s awesome, and it’s an awesome place to be.”
Gesicki said he leaned on some intel from a couple of friends who have experience with the Bengals organization: former practice squad tight end Nick Bowers and center Ted Karras, whom he played one season with in Miami.
Both offered glowing assessments. Not that it mattered.
“They could’ve said it’s the worst place in the world, but when you’ve got No. 9 at quarterback, I was like, ‘That is the place I want to go,” Gesicki said, adding that Burrow reached out to him Tuesday after he agreed to the contract.
“He said he was excited it was official and excited to get to work and build some chemistry. I’m really looking forward to it. There’s not many — if any — guys that can do what he does with the football.”
Gesicki has played with enough quarterbacks to know special when he sees it. In six seasons (five in Miami, one in New England), he’s caught passes from 10 different quarterbacks — Tua Tagovailoa, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Jacoby Brissett, Mac Jones, Ryan Tannehill, Brock Osweiler, Bailey Zappe, Teddy Bridgewater, Skylar Thompson, and Josh Rosen.
“I know this is a big year for myself, and I know this is a place that’s had tight ends produce,” Gesicki said with a nod to C.J. Uzomah, Hayden Hurst, and Tanner Hudson. “It was just right there in the front of my mind — great offense, great coaches, unbelievable quarterback.
“What else could you want as a guy that wants to go out there and make plays?”
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