Who Should I Start? Giovanni Ricci or Eli Wolf

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.

Monday, January 6, 8:18 PM

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft said top personnel executives Eliot Wolf and Alonzo Highsmith will remain with the organization into the 2025 season and will both be involved in head-coaching interviews to find the successor for Jerod Mayo, who was fired following the Week 18 regular-season finale against the division-rival Buffalo Bills on Sunday. Wolf is the club's executive vice president of player personnel and is expected to remain with the team as their general manager moving forward. He joined the Patriots in May of last year and served as the GM throughout the offseason. As the Pats search for a new head coach, their primary selling point will be young quarterback Drake Maye, who showed flashes of being a franchise signal-caller in his rookie season despite a concerning lack of talent at mostly every other position on the roster.