Who Should I Start? Giovanni Ricci or Brevin Jordan

Monday, February 3, 7:02 PM

The New England Patriots signed free-agent tight end Giovanni Ricci (knee) to a Reserve/Futures deal on Monday. Ricci was on the Cleveland Browns' practice squad in 2024 but never was active for a regular-season game and was cut in August due to a knee injury. The 28-year-old former undrafted free agent out of Western Michigan made his NFL debut in 2021 with the Carolina Panthers, with all 36 of his career games coming with Carolina. In three NFL seasons, Ricci has caught only nine of 12 targets for 102 yards and no touchdowns with the Panthers. Ricci is more of a blocker than a pass-catcher and will now represent tight end depth for the Patriots throughout the offseason and into training camp this summer. The most likely scenario is that he'll effective serve as a fullback for new Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.

Tuesday, August 12, 12:08 PM

The Houston Texans plan to place tight end Brevin Jordan (knee) on the season-ending Injured Reserve after he suffered a serious injury in Monday's training camp practice, a source tells Jonathan M. Alexander of the Houston Chronicle. It's unclear exactly what injury that Jordan suffered, but the 25-year-old was coming back from a torn ACL that limited him to just two games last year. It's a brutal blow for Jordan, who had been looking good in practices this summer as he competed for playing time behind starter Dalton Schultz. With Jordan now out for the entire 2025 season, Cade Stover and Irv Smith Jr. will be competing for playing time as the TE2 in Houston behind Schultz. In his four years in the NFL (all with Houston), Jordan has 53 catches on 80 targets for 532 yards and five touchdowns in 36 games (12 starts).