NFL free agency: Mike Gesicki signs 1-year, $9-million deal with the New England Patriots

One of the top tight ends in the 2023 free agent class is off the board as Mike Gesicki has signed with the New England Patriots in NFL free agency. Gesicki reportedly signed a one-year deal for up to $9 million, according to ESPN’s Field Yates.

The former Penn State product put up back-to-back seasons of 700+ yards in 2020 and 2021 but wasn’t quite promising enough for the Dolphins to hand him a long-term deal last offseason when his rookie deal expired. Instead, they decided to sign him to the franchise tag worth just over $10 million this season.

However, Miami transformed its team since tagging Gesicki last offseason by becoming a more wide-receiver-focused offense this season, obviously led by Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. As those two boomed with Tua Tagovailoa under center, Gesicki’s numbers suffered. He still played in all 17 games but saw his production sliced in half in a contract year. Not ideal.

So is Gesicki more like the guy from last season or did the Patriots just get a major steal? We’ll find out next fall.

More on the 2023 NFL offseason, free agency

The NFL 2023 calendar year is set to begin at 4 p.m. ET on March 15 when contracts running through 2022 will officially run out, making those players free agents. Prior to the beginning of free agency, teams will have a chance to designate one franchise or transition tag player, starting on Feb. 21 at 4 p.m. ET and ending on March 7. Beginning March 13 through March 15 teams will be allowed a legal negotiation with players who are set to become unrestricted free agents.

In addition to NFL free agency, the new year also marks the beginning of all trades being made official by the league office. April 21 marks the deadline to sign restricted free agents to offer sheets while April 26 marks the deadline for teams to match restricted free agent offers sheets. 722 players are slated to become free agents in 2023.

More on restricted, exclusive rights free agents

Players with only three years of accredited NFL experience become restricted free agents. Their original team will have the option to apply first-round, second-round, original-round, and right-of-fight-of-first-refusal tenders on players at escalating price tags. The higher the round, the more expensive the tender amount; however, if a separate team does offer a contract and the original team does not match that round pick will be conveyed from the new team to the original team. Right of first refusal only gives a team the option to match or not. If they don’t match, they get nothing in return. An original-round tender would send a draft pick from whatever round the player was drafted back to the original team if they chose not to match. The original team will have five days to match once a player signs an offer sheet from a new team.