Jon Feliciano

Bills Re-Sign OL Jon Feliciano

Ahead of the start of free agency, the Bills are locking up another one of their own guys. After extending Daryl Williams and Matt Milano this past week, Buffalo is now handing out a new contract to guard Jon Feliciano as well.

The Bills have signed Feliciano to a new three-year pact, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com confirmed on Twitter. The news was first tweeted by Matt Parrino of NewYorkUpstate.com. Schefter writes that the new pact is worth “up to” $17MM, so you’ll have to stay tuned for the details on that.

As Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets, the Bills now have 19 of their 22 starters from last year’s AFC Championship Game under contract for 2021, and two others are restricted free agents. A fourth-round pick of the Raiders in 2015, Feliciano spent the first four years of his career in Oakland.

The Miami product signed a two-year, $8MM pact with the Bills in March of 2019. He never started more than four games in a season for the Raiders, but started all 16 in his first year in Buffalo. Injuries limited him to nine games this past season, but he started all of them.

He’s not a Pro Bowler, but he’s been a solid enough starter the past couple of years. No matter what, Josh Allen will have a lot of continuity around him on offense heading into his fourth season.

Bills Activate G Jon Feliciano From IR

The Bills are set to have one of their 2019 starting offensive linemen back. Despite suffering a torn pectoral muscle in late July, Jon Feliciano is back on Buffalo’s active roster.

Feliciano will come off IR, per the Bills on Tuesday, and return to the team’s 53-man roster. The Bills waived linebacker Deon Lacey to make room.

A former Raiders backup, Feliciano helped the Bills make a significant improvement up front in 2019. He started 16 games for the playoff-bound squad. Feliciano, a 2015 fourth-round pick who signed a two-year deal with the Bills in 2019, returned to practice earlier this month.

Returning to game action after three months would represent a solid recovery pace after a torn pec. This would also be a bonus for a Bills team that is already somewhat deep up front.

However, this year’s team ranks 29th in rushing after seven games. Last year’s Bills finished eighth on the ground. This season, the Bills have used 2019 second-round pick Cody Ford and ex-Jet Brian Winters at guard. Despite Buffalo’s 5-2 record, Football Outsiders grades its offensive line 30th in adjusted line yards.

Bills Re-Sign WR Andre Roberts

Andre Roberts wasn’t out of work for long. On Monday morning, the Bills re-signed the veteran wide receiver, along with safety Dean Marlowe. In related moves, the Bills have placed guard Jon Feliciano and wide receiver Isaiah Hodgins on injured reserve.

[RELATED: Bills, Tre’Davious White Agree To $70MM Deal]

Roberts averaged 8.0 yards per punt return and 26.6 yards per kickoff return for the Bills last year. His release came as a surprise, especially since he was coming off of his second career Pro Bowl nod. As it turns out, the Bills weren’t actually discarding the capable and experienced return man/receiver.

Instead, the Bills appear to have made a wink-and-nod arrangement with Roberts to take advantage of the league’s modified IR rules. By waiting until today to place Feliciano and Hodgins on IR, the Bills will leave the door open to bringing them back after just three weeks. Had they made the move over the weekend, both players would have been subject to the usual eight weeks of non-activity before being eligible to return.

Roberts, 30, hasn’t been a significant offensive contributor to any team since 2014, but his return skills are unquestioned. In 2018, his last season with the Jets, Roberts led the NFL in yards per return on punts and total yardage on kickoffs, scoring a touchdown in each capacity.

Bills G Jon Feliciano Suffers Torn Pec

The Bills may need to make a new plan at guard. One of their starters, Jon Feliciano, will be out for a lengthy stretch.

Feliciano suffered a torn pectoral muscle and underwent surgery Friday, the team announced. Feliciano started in all 17 Bills games for the Bills last season. The former fourth-round pick will be a free agent in 2021.

Buffalo revamped its offensive line last season and saw substantial improvement, and Feliciano was one of the new cogs responsible. Signed to a two-year, $7.25MM contract, the former Raiders backup operated as the Bills’ right guard. The Bills improved from 30th to 15th in Football Outsiders’ adjusted line yards metric from 2018-19. Pro Football Focus rated Feliciano as the better of Buffalo’s two guards, slotting him 38th and Spain 61st last season.

Feliciano, 28, appears an IR candidate. But the Bills have some interesting depth options. They re-signed left guard starter Quinton Spain and added former Panthers starter Daryl Williams, who saw time at guard last season after serving as Carolina’s right tackle in previous years. The Bills also have 2019 second-round pick Cody Ford. The Oklahoma product was part of a right tackle platoon with Ty Nsekhe last season, but he worked as a guard as well. Nsekhe remains on the roster.

Bills To Sign OL Jon Feliciano

This week has brought a major revamp of the Bills’ offense, and the team continued its overhaul Tuesday night by adding a depth piece up front.

The Bills reached an agreement to add former Raiders lineman Jon Feliciano, Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com tweets. The fifth-year blocker will receive a two-year deal.

Having been used as a backup throughout his Raiders run, playing behind Gabe Jackson and Kelechi Osemele for much of it, Feliciano will join a Bills team that has already added two new potential starters up front.

Buffalo signed Spencer Long last month and reached an agreement with Ty Nsekhe earlier on Tuesday. Mitch Morse, he of the NFL’s new top center deal, is the big prize for a Bills team that is undergoing considerable personnel changes up front.

A 2015 Raiders fourth-round pick, Feliciano did make eight career starts — including four last season. The Bills struggled up front last season, having lost a few starters from a 2017 line that performed far better.

Raiders OL Jon Feliciano Done For The Season

Although the Raiders got a huge win over the Steelers today, they didn’t escape the game unscathed. Left guard Jon Feliciano suffered a calf injury that is believed to be season ending, a source told Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review Journal (Twitter link).

Feliciano, 26, was drafted by the Raiders in the fourth round back in 2015. He’s bounced between a starting and reserve role during his years with the team, and has started three games this season. Gehlken notes that he “not only finished the go-ahead TD drive but attempted to re-enter game for extra point”, and that “his toughness part of profile that stands to attract teams in March.”

Feliciano is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent this spring, and could land a decent deal as the open market value for interior offensive linemen has sky-rocketed in recent years. Feliciano, a Miami product, has received below average but not poor marks from Pro Football Focus this year, but was graded better last year.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/22/17

Here are today’s minor moves across the NFL:

Cincinnati Bengals

  • Placed on IR: LB Nick Vigil
  • Promoted from PS: OT Kent Perkins

Green Bay Packers

Oakland Raiders

Washington Redskins

  • Promoted: RB Dare Ogunbowale

 

Today’s practice squad updates:

Arizona Cardinals

Draft Signings: Raiders, Jaguars, Cowboys

Here are a few of the latest draft pick signings from around the NFL, as teams continue to work toward getting all their rookies under contract:

  • The Raiders have signed fourth-round offensive lineman Jon Feliciano and sixth-round defensive end Max Valles, according to a pair of press releases from the team. Oakland has now locked up half of its 10-player draft class, including fourth overall pick Amari Cooper.
  • The Michael Bennett who plays for the Seahawks and is currently playing out a $28MM contract has been a subject of a few rumors lately, but it’s another Michael Bennett, the defensive tackle out of Ohio State, that signed his rookie deal with the Jaguars today, as John Oehser of Jaguars.com reports (Twitter link).
  • The Cowboys have inked seventh-round offensive tackle Laurence Gibson to his four-year rookie contract, tweets Charean Williams of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Gibson will get a signing bonus of about $56K on a deal that’s worth $2.336MM in total, according to Over The Cap.