He does not have a spot on the active roster - he never has. He took up a practice squad spot in year one, and was on injured reserve in year 2. He was not keeping a potentially contributing player from helping the team either year.
Of course he wasn't acquired simply to churn the roster, and I'm not one of those blind Rico supporters who is convinced he is anything special, but you have to accept that his circumstances are different than others. The team drafted him as a project - they knew all along it would take time for him to develop, and they knew the development may not be fast enough or simply be enough for him to become a player. That's the nature of projects players. None of this should be a mystery to fans.
This is a make or break year for Gathers - I seriously doubt he would be put back on the practice squad, so to my thinking either he makes the active roster or he is shown the door. And I think they only keep him if they elect to keep 4 TEs.