Who Should I Start? Giovanni Ricci or Grant Calcaterra

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.

Wednesday, October 29, 1:11 AM

Philadelphia Eagles tight end Grant Calcaterra has been a meaningful part of the offense this season, playing on 47.4% of offensive snaps in six games. Calcaterra missed Philadelphia's Week 6 matchup in Minnesota with an oblique injury, but has suited up for every other game as the team's No. 2 tight end behind Dallas Goedert. The 26-year-old has mostly served as a blocking tight end and has only caught four of his six targets for 40 yards this season, but he has proven capable of scaling up a little bit when Goedert misses time. In the seven games that Goedert missed last season, Calcaterra caught 14 of 15 targets for 165 yards and a touchdown. He'd be in TE2 territory if Goedert were to miss any games this season.