Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Get familiar with the newest wideout.
The Dolphins signed wide receiver Braxton Berrios just days after free agency opened. Berrios looks to utilize his dynamic skill set to improve coach Mike McDaniel’s playbook.
He joins a wide receiver group that includes the duo of Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, who both ranked top 10 in the NFL a season ago in receiving yards. The offense is poised for a big play at any moment.
Miami fans have plenty to be excited about with this new addition, and here are some reasons why.
Thankfully, Miami has a ton of cap space because they could be losing some key pieces.
The Miami Dolphins have been in the news a lot this week with Brian Flores’ lawsuit and their head coaching search still going on, but there’s still business to attend to.
With the postseason wrapping up in the next two weeks, the 2021 league year will be officially over, and the 2022 season will begin in March, allowing players with expiring contracts to become free agents.
Miami has roughly 30 players who fall in that category, including some of their most talented guys on both sides of the ball. In preparation for free agency, Pro Football Focus has ranked 140 free agents, and two Dolphins fall in the top 25 – defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah and tight end Mike Gesicki.
In Ogbah’s two years with Miami, he’s recorded 83 tackles, 45 quarterback hits, 18 sacks, 17 pass deflections, four forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries. He’s been a consistent force on Miami’s defense which is what ranked him as the 22nd best free agent on this list.
Here’s what PFF said about Ogbah:
“Emmanuel Ogbah has finally blossomed into a solid defensive end after a few years of bouncing around rosters. The Cleveland Browns made Ogbah the first pick of the second round in the 2016 NFL Draft and subsequently traded him to the Kansas City Chiefs for a fourth-round pick and safety Eric Murray before the 2019 season. Now in his second season with the Dolphins, Ogbah has a career-best 79.9 overall grade through Week 13 to go along with a 71.0 pass-rush grade — which would be his first above 65.0.”
For Gesicki, he’s really started to flourish the last two years as essentially a big-bodied wideout. Since the start of 2020, he’s totaled 126 receptions, 1,483 yards, and eight touchdowns. He’s being ranked as the 21st best free agent.
Here’s what PFF said about Gesicki:
“Gesicki will have one of the more interesting free-agent situations of any player in the NFL this offseason as he attempts to make the infamous Jimmy Graham argument that he should be considered a wide receiver for franchise tag purposes and not a tight end. Gesicki has played 94% of his snaps lined up in the slot or out wide as a receiver and is rarely ever in-line as a tight end. The wide receiver franchise tag is projected to be around $19 million, while the tight end franchise tag projects to be almost half of that — around $10 million-$11 million. It’s no small distinction.”
According to Over the Cap, the Dolphins are expected to have nearly $64 million in cap space, so they should be able to re-sign both guys if they want to. The question is: will they want to?
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The tight end should remain in Miami.
The Miami Dolphins are at the beginning of their offseason schedule, as they are in the process of looking for their next head coach. After that decision is made, the team will start building the team the way general manager Chris Grier and their new head coach want it to be built.
One of the decisions the team will have to make is whether or not to pay tight end Mike Gesicki who is set to be a free agent at the stsrt of the league year. In 2021, Gesicki set career highs in yards (780) and receptions (73) while bringing in two touchdowns as well. He was essentially Tua Tagovailoa’s second-favorite target just behind rookie wide receiver Jaylen Waddle who was teammates with the quarterback in college.
This week, Pro Football Focus listed the 26-year-old tight end as the one free agent the Dolphins could not lose this offseason. Here’s what PFF’s Brad Spielberger had to say about Gesicki:
“Gesicki, in reality, is a big slot receiver who is able to line up all over and run a route tree not seen from the typical tight end. It’s hard to find a playmaking receiver at the tight end position, and teams should probably hold on if they find one. Gesicki has back-to-back seasons with 70.0+ receiving grades, and his 32 contested catches over the span are tied for first among tight ends. He pairs well with breakout rookie wide receiver Jaylen Waddle.”
The fact Gesicki isn’t the best all-around tight end may keep him from getting top of the market money, but there’s a good chance he gets more than New England paid Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith annually last season ($12.5 million per year).
If that’s the asking price of keeping Tagovailoa comfortable next year with a new offense, that may be worth it. However, we won’t really know how Gesicki or Tagovailoa fit until we know who the coach and offensive coordinator are.
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