Mike Gesicki is excited to play with the QB he helped Bengals draft

Remember when the Bengals and Dolphins played for the No. 1 overall pick? Mike Gesicki remembers.

Way back in December of 2019, the one-win Cincinnati Bengals played the three-win Miami Dolphins in a game that could have determined who got the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

All while this was happening, Joe Burrow was having the greatest year for a quarterback in the history of NCAA football, and by the end of the year, it was clear he would be chosen first.

The Bengals luckily lost a wild game, 38-35, in overtime. In that game, the Bengals newest tight end, Mike Gesicki, who signed via free agency, caught six passes for 82 yards and two touchdowns, helping push the Dolphins over the top and Burrow right into the Bengals’ waiting arms.

Gesicki remembers that game, and he called it “The Joe Burrow Bowl.”

And five years later, Gesicki couldn’t turn down the chance to play with Burrow.

“They could have said it’s the worst place in the world,” he said. “When you have No. 9 at quarterback, I was like, ‘alright, that is a place I want to go.’”

Gesicki joins tight end Drew Sample, who just re-signed with the team on a three-year deal, and hopes to join both C.J. Uzomah and Hayden Hurst as the third tight end that Burrow has gotten paid. The Bengals are hoping for the same, and they’re hoping they can avoid a repeat of Irv Smith Jr.

Last season, the Bengals had several tight ends in the mix as receivers. The Bengals are surely hoping Gesicki can lead the tight end room in 2024 like Uzomah and Hurst did in the past.