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Jon Feliciano

49ers Planning To Use Jon Feliciano At G

By | at May 17, 2023 10:49 am

The 49ers fielded an inexperienced interior offensive line group last season, but the group stayed healthy and helped on another journey to the NFC championship game. As of now, that Aaron Banks–Jake Brendel–Spencer Burford trio is on track to reprise their roles.

But the 49ers also carried Daniel Brunskill as an insurance policy last year. The former starter mixed in frequently at guard. Brunskill signed a two-year, $5.5MM deal with the Titans in March; he has a clearer path toward a starting job in Nashville, where ex-49ers exec Ran Carthon now runs the show. The 49ers replaced Brunskill with Jon Feliciano, the Giants’ starting center throughout last season.

[RELATED: Colton McKivitz Favored To Become 49ers’ RT Starter]

During an offseason in which a few starting centers re-signed with their respective teams, San Francisco retained Brendel on a four-year, $16.5MM contract. Feliciano joined the team on a one-year, $2.25MM pact. That does not point to starter money, but the Giants used Feliciano as a first-stringer for $3.25MM last year. And the 49ers are not viewing the veteran as a depth-only cog. Feliciano will compete with Burford for the team’s starting right guard gig, David Lombardi of The Athletic notes (subscription required).

The 49ers listed Brunskill as a backup but used their former right guard starter on 519 offensive plays; he primarily platooned with Burford. The 2022 fourth-round pick played 745 snaps. Brunskill’s exit opens the door for Feliciano, a former Raiders backup who became a starter upon joining the Bills in 2019. Feliciano started 16 games at guard for the Bills that year, and while injuries hounded him in 2020 and ’21, ex-Bills staffers Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll made a successful bet on him. Feliciano started 15 games for the Giants last season.

Pro Football Focus graded Feliciano 31st overall among centers in 2022, and the Giants are handing the reins to second-round pick John Michael Schmitz. But the 31-year-old blocker appears a key part of the 49ers’ plans up front.

“Jon is a guy who has started a lot of games here in the last few years,” GM John Lynch said. “I think he gives us tremendous versatility at guard and center. Around the league, it’s kind of known he’s one of those glue guys, one of those guys you want in your room. He became a priority for us in free agency. I felt very fortunate that we were able to come out of free agency with Jon a part of our team, especially once we lost Danny.”

Banks, Brendel and Burford combined to miss just two games last season. Odds are against that collective health repeating. Should Feliciano (54 career starts) lose the RG job to Burford, he will be positioned as an experienced interior swingman. For the other swing spot, Lombardi adds UFA addition Matt Pryor — the Colts’ Week 1 left tackle starter last season — will vie for the OT3 role with third-year blocker Jaylon Moore. Moore started two games last season. Although the Colts demoted Pryor during a disastrous year for their O-line, he has 24 career starts — at both tackle and guard — on his resume.

1 comment San Francisco 49ers

49ers, OL Jon Feliciano Agree To Deal

By | at March 20, 2023 6:53 pm

Jon Feliciano will leave New York for San Francisco. The former Bills and Giants starter is joining the 49ers, according to Newsday’s Kim Jones (on Twitter). This is a one-year agreement.

The 49ers are giving Feliciano $2.5MM fully guaranteed, Dan Duggan of The Athletic tweets. The team included another $1MM via incentives. The base is down a bit from Feliciano’s 2022 Giants pact — a one-year, $3.25MM deal — but that agreement moved the veteran blocker into position to be a starter. This one looks like it will be for a swingman role.

Following Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen from Buffalo to the Big Apple, Feliciano rebounded from two injury-prone seasons with the Bills by starting 15 Giants contests last season. The team showed interest in re-signing both Feliciano and Nick Gates, but both will be elsewhere in 2023. Gates signed with Washington last week.

After going into last season with startlingly inexperienced first-string interior offensive line, the 49ers stuck with the Aaron Banks–Jake Brendel–Spencer Burford trio. But supplanted starter Daniel Brunskill still played a steady role as a swingman and rotational presence. Brunskill has since rejoined Ran Carthon in Tennessee. Feliciano now looks like he will be San Francisco’s inside swing player.

Feliciano, 31, has experience at both center and guard, lining up as the Giants’ pivot but playing guard alongside Mitch Morse with the Bills. The former fourth-round Raiders pick has lasted eight NFL seasons, going from Oakland backup to starter on each of his New York teams. Feliciano has made 54 NFL starts.

The Bills gave Feliciano an extension after his 16-game 2019 season, but after injuries shortened his 2020 and ’21 slates, the team made him a cap casualty in 2022. Employing a Buffalo-imported power structure, the Giants gave him another opportunity. Pro Football Focus did not think much of Feliciano’s first season as a full-time center starter, ranking him 31st at the position. But he played a key role for a resurgent Giants team and has fared better at guard in the past.

The Titans gave Brunskill a two-year, $5.5MM pact, which represents a nice bump from his 49ers rookie deal. The NFC West franchise will move on to another low-cost veteran option. Considering Brunskill played 519 offensive snaps despite starting only two games, this Feliciano addition could prove pivotal for the 49ers’ O-line next season.

1 comment San Francisco 49ers Transactions

Nick Gates, Jon Feliciano On Radar To Stay With Giants; Team Wants To Adjust Leonard Williams’ Deal

By | at March 2, 2023 2:10 pm

Nick Gates went from suffering a career-threatening injury to returning as a Giants starter, and the team has interest in keeping him on another contract.

The Giants have begun negotiations with the veteran interior offensive lineman, Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post notes. Gates played out his two-year, $6.83MM extension. Both he and center Jon Feliciano are on the radar to stay. Feliciano, who was with GM Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll in Buffalo, signed a one-year, $3.25MM deal in March 2022.

[RELATED: Giants Prepared To Let Saquon Barkley Walk?]

A lower leg fracture in September 2021 ended Gates’ season, and then-HC Joe Judge mentioned the injury as being a potential career-ender for the former starting center. Displaying resilience and versatility, Gates worked his way back into a uniform by this past season’s midpoint. And the ex-center starter took over as a starting left guard soon after. Gates, 27, began sharing the gig with Ben Bredeson. The Giants have Bredeson under contract for 2023, via a 2021 trade, and still have 2022 draftees Joshua Ezeudu and Marcus McKethan on rookie deals.

Given the Giants’ guard situation and higher priorities in free agency, it is notable the team wants to work something out with Gates. Pro Football Focus graded Gates as a top-50 guard this year, slotting him a bit behind right guard Mark Glowinski, a former Colts starter who is signed through 2024. Feliciano being in the picture to stay is a bit more surprising, though his longstanding ties to the current regime certainly help. The 31-year-old blocker ranked outside the top 30 among full-time centers, per PFF, which graded Big Blue’s O-line 30th overall.

Considering the big-picture issues with Barkley, Daniel Jones and Julian Love, the Giants should be considered unlikely to sign off on big raises for Gates or Feliciano. Factoring in their spots as starters, however, Gates and Feliciano’s previous rates are a bit low.

A player whose paygrade checks in higher than most at his position also slots as a Giants offseason priority. Leonard Williams, who signed a three-year deal worth $63MM shortly after the Giants franchise-tagged him for a second time in March 2021, is going into a contract year. The Giants want to reduce his cap hit, with Dan Duggan of The Athletic noting (subscription required) Schoen will meet with the veteran D-lineman about doing so this week. Although void years could be tacked onto Williams’ deal to reduce his massive cap figure ($32.3MM — the most for any D-lineman in 2023), Duggan adds the team’s preferred path here is likely an extension.

The Giants extending Williams will be tricky. While it would reduce the former top-10 pick’s 2023 cap hit, the team also has a Dexter Lawrence extension on the agenda. Lawrence talks have begun, and the breakout D-tackle should be expected to top Williams’ $21MM-per-year price. With Jones set for a major raise and Barkley potentially back on either a franchise tag or an extension, the Giants will need to cut costs in some places. Williams also has seen his production dip since a big 2020 contract year, when he totaled 11.5 sacks and 30 QB hits. In 2022, the ex-Jet tallied 2.5 sacks and 12 QB hits. He only played in 12 games, however.

3 comments New York Giants

OL Notes: Giants, Radunz, Steelers, Brunskill

By | at May 28, 2022 11:02 am

After fielding another below-average offensive line last season, one that saw key injuries reconfigure it early on in the campaign, the Giants loaded up on blockers this offseason. Newcomers Evan Neal, Mark Glowinski and Jon Feliciano are projected to start at right tackle, right guard and center, respectively. Andrew Thomas is the team’s unquestioned left tackle. That leaves left guard as the top competition area. Holdover Shane Lemieux appears to be the favorite for that job, via NJ.com’s Zack Rosenblatt, who notes the third-year player has been a full participant despite coming off a patellar tendon tear that cost him 16 games last season. Lemieux, who started down the stretch for the 2020 Giants and has received the first reps with the starters thus far, attempted to play through the severe knee injury in Week 1 but ended up missing the season’s remainder.

The Joe Schoen–Brian Daboll regime, however, brought in third-round pick Joshua Ezeudu (North Carolina). Although Max Garcia arrived this offseason as well, Rosenblatt adds the Giants view the eighth-year veteran as more of a backup. This sets up a Lemieux-Ezeudu left guard battle, one that will determine if the Giants have three or four new starters up front.

Here is the latest from the NFL’s O-line scene:

  • The Titans lost two starters from their 2021 O-line — left guard Rodger Saffold and stopgap right tackle David Quessenberry — and are aiming to plug in former second-round pick Dillon Radunz. The North Dakota State product, who made just one start as a rookie, is vying for the team’s right tackle gig but also factors into the guard mix, Jim Wyatt of Titans.com offers. Radunz, chosen a year after would-be right tackle Isaiah Wilson became a quick bust, was a full-timer for the Bison from 2018-19 but lost the 2020 season due to the pandemic. The Titans used a third-round pick on Ohio State’s Nicholas Petit-Frere, representing another right tackle option. Third-year UDFA Aaron Brewer and ex-Seahawk Jamarco Jones are on the roster as left guard candidates.
  • Daniel Brunskill has started 35 straight regular-season games for the 49ers, slotting primarily at right guard. The fourth-year veteran has shown an ability to fill in at all five O-line spots, and Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle notes the 49ers would prefer Brunskill as a super-sub rather than as the full-time starter. For this reality to unfold, the team would need a viable replacement. Jaylon Moore, a 2021 fifth-round pick who has moved inside from tackle, represents competition for the 49ers’ right guard position. Given Brunskill’s experience, benching him would be quite the gamble for a team that lost five-year left guard Laken Tomlinson in free agency and looks set to lose center Alex Mack to retirement.
  • Steelers newcomers James Daniels and Mason Cole look set to play right guard and center, respectively, per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo, leaving a competition between two 2021 starters at left guard. The Steelers following through on the rumored move of center Kendrick Green to guard, his primary college position, has created a competition between he and Kevin Dotson — a 13-game starter through two years. Pro Football Focus graded Dotson well as a rookie, albeit in a small sample size, but an ankle injury doomed his sophomore NFL season. Green started 15 games last year; PFF graded the rookie third-rounder as one of the league’s worst centers. Given a three-year, $15.75MM deal, Cole coming to Pittsburgh has led to Green’s position switch.
0 comments New York Giants Pittsburgh Steelers San Francisco 49ers Tennessee Titans

NFC East Rumors: Feliciano, Giants, Cowboys, Dickerson

By | at May 21, 2022 7:15 pm

New Giants’ interior offensive lineman Jon Feliciano had some interesting comments about how his time in Buffalo came to an end, according to Zack Rosenblatt of NJ.com. After not being utilized in the Bills’ overtime loss to Kansas City, Felicano was quoted saying part of him thought they “got what (they) deserved.”

After riding out his rookie contract as a reserve lineman in Oakland, Feliciano signed a two-year deal to join the Bills. Despite only starting four games for the Raiders as an injury-replacement for Kelechi Osemele, Feliciano earned a starting job playing right guard for all 16 games of his first year in Buffalo. A shoulder injury and torn pectoral muscle delayed the start of his 2020 season, but, upon his return, he started the final nine games of the season, winning the Bills’ 2020 Ed Block Courage Award.

Feliciano signed a three-year extension before the 2021 season and began the year starting six of the first seven games at left guard. A calf injury landed him on injured reserve for a little over a month, but, upon his return, he was not welcomed back to his starting job, with Ike Boettger manning the position. Even when Boettger was unavailable in the playoffs, Buffalo turned to Ryan Bates, who had recorded the first four starts of his career earlier in the season, in lieu of putting Feliciano back in the starting lineup.

With the apparent contempt over the situation in Buffalo, it’s a bit of a surprise to see Feliciano follow his offensive coordinator, now-Giants head coach Brian Daboll, and his offensive line coach, Bobby Johnson, to New York. Johnson has a lot of respect for Feliciano, who he’s coached since their time together began in Oakland. A potential draw might have been that Feliciano will get the opportunity to play center for the Giants after playing at guard dating all the way back to his college days in Miami.

Here are a few other rumors from around the NFC East, starting with another rumor about Big Blue:

  • Daboll earned his first head coaching job due to his success calling plays in Buffalo. He hired former NFL quarterback Mike Kafka as the Giants’ new offensive coordinator after Kafka served as the Chiefs quarterbacks coach & passing game coordinator the past two years. Kafka has never called plays for an offense, as Chiefs head coach Andy Reid calls plays in Kansas City, but Daboll and the G-Men have provided Kafka the opportunity to try so far in offseason practices, according to Josh Alper of NBC Sports. It’s a show of good faith by Daboll and a low-risk chance, as Daboll can easily take the reins if they don’t believe Kafka is ready for NFL play-calling yet.
  • With the Bronco’s franchise rumored to be selling around $4.5BB, Peter King of NBC Sports was curious about the value of the NFL’s most valuable franchise, the Cowboys. According to Forbes, King says $6.5BB. According to popular NFL business consultant Marc Ganis, King says $8-8.5BB. According to Cowboys’ owner/president/general manager/supreme ruler Jerry Jones, King says over $10BB. Jones quickly added without provocation, “But let me make this very clear, I’ll say it definitively: I will never do it. I will never sell the Cowboys. Ever.” So feel free to put away your checkbooks. Jerry isn’t interested.
  • When the Eagles drafted Landon Dickerson out of Alabama last year, the idea was that the Crimson Tide’s unanimous All-American center and Rimington Trophy winner would eventually serve as the replacement for long-time center Jason Kelce. Well, according to Zach Berman of The Athletic, their plans may have shifted. Dickerson proved too talented to keep off the field and found his first opportunity at playing time at left guard. The chemistry with Dickerson next to tackle Jordan Mailata has the Eagles’ brass excited and eager to keep the tandem next to each other. This plan likely informed their decision to use their second-round pick this year on Nebraska center Cam Jurgens. Jurgens also has the flexibility to play guard and center, but with Dickerson likely to stick at guard, Jurgens becomes the clear front-runner to eventually replace Kelce.
3 comments Dallas Cowboys New York Giants Philadelphia Eagles

Giants To Add OL Jon Feliciano

By | at March 14, 2022 7:53 pm

Brian Daboll‘s presence led to the Giants being linked to Mitchell Trubisky. While that deal did not come to fruition, Big Blue is adding one of Daboll’s former charges.

Jon Feliciano is heading south to join Daboll in the Big Apple, Matt Parrino of Syracuse.com tweets. The Giants are planning to shift the veteran guard to center as well. Feliciano’s one-year Giants contract comes shortly after the Bills made him a cap casualty.

This marks the second starter-caliber O-lineman the Giants have added Monday night. Mark Glowinski agreed to terms earlier; he will stay a guard. As for Feliciano, the three-year Bills starting guard will give center a shot. Feliciano, 30, started 16 games for the Bills in 2019 but was limited to 15 starts over the ensuing two years. Injuries plagued Feliciano in 2020 and ’21, with a torn pec sidelining him for much of the ’20 season and a calf injury shelving him last year.

The Giants’ O-line plans are starting to come into focus. Glowinski is being paid to start. While the terms on Feliciano’s deal are not known, he was a starter for Daboll and offensive line coach Bobby Johnson — now the Giants’ O-line coach — for much of the past three seasons.

13 comments New York Giants Transactions

Bills To Release G Jon Feliciano

By | at March 9, 2022 5:54 pm

Jon Feliciano‘s time with the Bills appears to be up. The veteran guard tweeted a goodbye message Wednesday, and Syracuse.com’s Matt Parrino tweets the Bills are releasing him.

Feliciano had battled injuries over the past two seasons in Buffalo but had largely worked as a starter. By the playoffs, however, the seven-year veteran operated as a backup. Feliciano’s release will create just more than $3MM in cap space for the Bills.

The Bills re-signed Feliciano in March of last year, keeping him off the free agent market with a three-year, $14.4MM deal. Feliciano, 30, will now hit the market. As a street free agent, he is now free to sign with any team.

An ex-Raiders fourth-round pick, Feliciano caught on with the Bills in 2019 — via a two-year deal worth $7.25MM — and started 16 games for the playoff-bound squad that season. The Bills re-signed him despite a 2020 season featuring seven missed games due to a torn pectoral muscle. In 2021, Feliciano dealt with a calf injury.

Buffalo used UDFA Ryan Bates ahead of Feliciano in its two postseason games, with rookie Spencer Brown moving into the starting lineup as well this past season. The AFC East champions also have starter Daryl Williams and former second-round tackle/guard Cody Ford under contract for 2022; Bates can be retained through an RFA tender.

4 comments Buffalo Bills Transactions

NFL COVID-19 List Updates: 12/29/21

By | at December 29, 2021 3:19 pm

Several key players returned to practice Wednesday. Here are the latest COVID-19 updates from around the league:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

  • Activated from practice squad/COVID-19 list: WR Rico Bussey

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

1 comment Arizona Cardinals Atlanta Falcons Baltimore Ravens Buffalo Bills COVID-19 Carolina Panthers Cincinnati Bengals Cleveland Browns Dallas Cowboys Denver Broncos Detroit Lions Green Bay Packers Houston Texans Indianapolis Colts Jacksonville Jaguars Kansas City Chiefs Las Vegas Raiders Los Angeles Chargers Los Angeles Rams Miami Dolphins Minnesota Vikings New England Patriots New Orleans Saints New York Giants New York Jets Philadelphia Eagles Pittsburgh Steelers Seattle Seahawks Tampa Bay Buccaneers Tennessee Titans Transactions Washington Commanders

NFL COVID List Updates: 12/20/21

By | at December 20, 2021 10:23 pm

A long list of players were placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list. We listed the players who landed on the list today, as well as those who were activated off the list:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Las Vegas Raiders

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New York Giants

New York Jets

  • Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: DE John Franklin-Myers, DB Sharrod Neasman

Philadelphia Eagles

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

Comments Closed Atlanta Falcons Baltimore Ravens Buffalo Bills COVID-19 Chicago Bears Cleveland Browns Detroit Lions Houston Texans Kansas City Chiefs Las Vegas Raiders Los Angeles Chargers Los Angeles Rams Miami Dolphins New England Patriots New York Giants New York Jets Philadelphia Eagles Seattle Seahawks Tennessee Titans Washington Commanders

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/19/21

By | at December 19, 2021 10:41 am

Given the recent surge of COVID-19 cases throughout the league, we expected to see more roster churning today than we typically would on a December Sunday. Here are today’s minor (and not so minor) moves. This page will, of course, be updated throughout the day:

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

  • Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: G Jon Feliciano
  • Promoted: OL Jacob Capra

Cleveland Browns

Philadelphia Eagles

Washington Football Team

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