Gesicki heads to New England

The Patriots are signing TE Mike Gesicki to a one-year deal worth "up to" $9 million, according to multiple reports. Gesicki was a forgotten man in HC Mike McDaniels' Dolphins offense last year, mustering just 32 catches for 362 yards and 5 TDs on a 45% snap rate. He's still just 27, though, and topped 700 receiving yards in both 2020 and 2021. He finished both of those seasons as a top-9 TE in PPR points, while ranking 6th and then 13th in Pro Football Focus receiving grade. Gesicki joins Hunter Henry in New England's TE room, but the two have played different roles to date. Henry played a career-low 26.5% of his pass snaps inline (according to Pro Football Focus) and a career-high 61.6% in the slot in 2021, his first year with the Patriots. Last season, though, he spent exactly the same amount of time (43.3% of pass snaps) in each role -- with a career-low 10.3% out wide. Gesicki has spent just 19.5% of his career snaps inline -- the traditional TE spot -- 58.9% in the slot and 21.1% out wide. Considering the current state of the New England WR corps (JuJu Smith-Schuster, Tyquan Thornton, DeVante Parker, Kendrick Bourne), there's room for both TEs to be relevant. We'll look for clues on how the targets will be divvied. For now, don't consider Gesicki more than a low-TE2 in fantasy football drafts. And there's no reason to downgrade Henry's fantasy outlook. He has already been going in mid-TE3 range of best ball drafts. His career-long penchant for end-zone targets makes him well worth mixing in at that level.

The Bengals are signing TE Mike Gesicki to a one-year deal worth "up to" $3.25 million, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports. It might feel like an exciting landing spot at first glance, but no Cincinnati TE has finished better than 19th in PPR points in four seasons since QB Joe Burrow arrived. Gesicki, of course, has been a non-factor in fantasy over the past two years, totaling 606 yards and seven TDs across 34 games for the Dolphins and then Patriots. Consider him just a TE3 in early best-ball drafts.

Patriots TE Mike Gesicki (shoulder) returned to practice on Tuesday. He wore a red, non-contact jersey. The former Dolphin isn’t someone we’re counting on for anything close to TE1 production. Hunter Henry, who made our list of undervalued fantasy football players, is the TE target in New England.

Patriots TE Mike Gesicki suffered a "mild" dislocated shoulder in Monday's practice, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. "While nothing is given, the hope is he’s back for Week 1 despite the AC joint injury," Rapoport adds. We're not adjusting Gesicki's projections for now but will keep a close eye on his recovery from this injury.

Patriots “TE“ Mike Gesicki went down with an unspecified injury in one-on-one drills Monday, according to Zack Cox of NESN. Gesicki reportedly needed help off the field and did not return. We’ll watch for more specifics.

It's been a "tough first two weeks of camp" for Patriots TE Mike Gesicki, The Athletic's Chad Graff writes. "He has not been frequently targeted in drills and has made little impact when targeted," Graff adds. He concludes point blankly that, "Hunter Henry is TE1 over Mike Gesicki." That's especially noteworthy considering Gesicki still sits ahead of Henry in most ADP data. That's not the case in our 2023 TE Rankings.