Bengals were always Mike Gesicki’s target in free agency

New Cincinnati Bengals tight end Mike Gesicki seemed to have the team in mind well before the free agency market opened.

Gesicki himself appeared to suggest as much recently after his stint in New England on a rough offense that produced a career-low 45 targets.

Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic summed up the situation nicely while looking at the signing:

After spending last year in the offensive trainwreck that was the New England Patriots, Gesicki knew exactly what his career needed and his skill set demanded. That’s why since the moment the season ended, he’d been talking to his wife, Halle, about going to Cincinnati. When the Bengals called, he knew where it would end.

Now Gesicki gets to become the latest one-year, prove-it target for Joe Burrow.

And he says that No. 9 factored more than anything in the thought process, per Dehner: “They could have said it was the worst place in the world, but when you got No. 9 at quarterback, I was like, ‘That is the place I want to go.’”

And go he did, with the potential to contribute more than the last few guys to hold the No. 1 spot on the depth chart over the last few years. With Gesicki’s skill in the slot well proven and Tyler Boyd gone, his initial gut feeling about Cincinnati could be proven right in a hurry.