Who Should I Start? Ross Dwelley or Giovanni Ricci

Friday, May 2, 4:17 PM

The San Francisco 49ers have agreed to a one-year contract with former Atlanta Falcons tight end Ross Dwelley. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported the news, but did not disclose the monetary details. The 30-year-old spent his first seven campaigns in the league with San Francisco and will return after a one-year stint with the Falcons. Dwelley appeared in all 17 games last season, but he played only 105 snaps (9.19%) -- snagging his only target for a gain of five yards. He did most of his damage -- snap-wise -- on special teams, but was still only on the field roughly a third of the time (37.22% of snaps). It's possible the 49ers brought him on due to his familiarity with their system, but he doesn't project to make an impact in the receiving column. He'll serve as a depth piece for the organization.

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.