The New England Patriots filled their need for a second tight end Friday by signing tight end Mike Gesicki.

Gesicki signed a one-year deal worth up to $9 million, ESPN’s Field Yates reported Friday morning. Gesicki confirmed the signing to CBS Sports' Josina Anderson.

Mike Gesicki’s contract with the Patriots is for 1-year and up to $9M, per source.

A unique red zone threat for Mac Jones with his massive catch radius.

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 17, 2023

The Patriots had discussed signing Gesicki internally this offseason. They got the deal done by Friday morning.

Gesicki had a down season in 2022, catching just 32 passes for 362 yards with five touchdowns as he wasn’t a great fit in Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel’s system. He was coming off his most productive season, a 2021 campaign that saw him catch 73 passes for 780 yards with two touchdowns. In his five-year career since being selected in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft out of Penn State, Gesicki has 231 catches for 2,617 yards with 18 touchdowns.

New England needed a second tight end after trading Jonnu Smith to the Atlanta Falcons for a seventh-round pick for some salary-cap relief. Gesicki joins Hunter Henry, Matt Sokol and Scotty Washington on New England’s tight end depth chart.

The Patriots have done other work to shake up their offensive skill positions. They signed running back James Robinson to join Rhamondre Stevenson, Ty Montgomery, Pierre Strong, Kevin Harris and J.J. Taylor and added wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster to a wide receiver corps that includes Kendrick Bourne, DeVante Parker, Tyquan Thornton, Raleigh Webb, Lynn Bowden and Tre Nixon.

Smith and wide receiver Jakobi Meyers are the lone departures from the offense so far. Wide receiver Nelson Agholor and running back Damien Harris are also free agents. New England has done a good job through the first week of free agency or replenishing offensive playmakers for quarterback Mac Jones.

It was extremely unlikely the Dolphins were going to bring back Gesicki even after franchise tagging him in 2022. He simply wasn’t a strong enough blocker to serve in McDaniel’s offense. Gesicki could serve as a big wide receiver in Bill O’Brien’s offense in New England. In his best NFL seasons, Gesicki has played the majority of his snaps out wide and in the slot, not inline at tight end.

O’Brien originally recruited Gesicki to Penn State while the he was the Nittany Lions’ head coach.