Tight end Mike Gesicki is wearing the franchise tag, but the Miami Dolphins deny he’ll be wearing another uniform this season.

Gesicki, tagged before the start of 2022 free agency, remains part of the plan this season as far as head coach Mike McDaniel is concerned.

“These reports are tricky to me because I’m like — again I’ve alluded to this before at the beginning of the offseason — during the training camp, during the offseason in general, GMs have work to do, and they’re not just watching us coach,” McDaniel said. “So when people report that somebody is, when they use that loose verbiage of ‘his name’s been brought up’ or whatever, I mean, the report is kind of misleading because there are probably just gonna be a lot of names on that report. All I’m focused on, and that’s regardless of what people try to churn up, I’m focused on coaching Mike, Mike’s focused on getting better.”

Gesicki, 26, lined up as a wide receiver more than his college position, tight end, under the previous regime.

Because of the short-term financial commitment and versatility, McDaniel understands why Gesicki’s name is floated in trade rumors.

Even so, he said there is no reason to expect Gesicki to be moved and plans to start him at the traditional tight end position.

“He had a great week of practice this week, which tells you a lot about that individual because there has been random noise that he hasn’t listened to clearly,” McDaniel said. “He’s putting his best foot forward, and that’s all that I’m concerned about. It’s my job to coach the players on the team, and I like coaching Mike. Beyond that, it’s kind of a no-ends process of talking about ‘Did someone talk about somebody else?’ That stuff happens more often than it doesn’t.”

Gesicki, a second-round pick in 2018, has 199 receptions and 13 touchdowns in 64 career games. He caught 73 passes for 780 yards and two scores in 2021.

–Field Level Media