Giants 2023 UFA Primer: C Jon Feliciano
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Jon Feliciano, C
Height: 6-foot-4
Weight: 325 lbs.
Age: 30
NFL Exp.: 8 seasons
College: Miami (Fla.)
The New York Giants signed Jon Feliciano to a one-year deal on March 16, 2022, to be their center. Feliciano came into the league in 2015 as a guard and predominantly played either from the right or left side while with the Las Vegas Raiders and the Buffalo Bills.
Before joining the Giants, Feliciano had only recorded 312 snaps from the center position over his first seven seasons.
2022 Recap
Over his sole season with the Giants, Feliciano played a career-high 971 snaps, all of which came from the center position. In 568 pass-blocking snaps, Feliciano did concede 22 pressures and three sacks, nearly matching his career highs in both stat categories.
That said, Feliciano had a much better campaign than it might appear. In his first full season playing center, Feliciano finished with a 97.6 pass-blocking efficiency rating and tied left tackle Andrew Thomas in sacks allowed, making the tandem the best amongst all offensive linemen who played over 300 pass-blocking snaps. In addition, Feliciano had eight games this season where he posted a 98 percent pass-blocking efficiency or higher, with three of those games consisting of 100 percent pass-blocking efficiency scores (four including his Wild Card performance).
Considering the workload he received and his limited experience with playing at center, Feliciano provided a level of dependability and resilience that the Giants offense benefited from, both through the air and on the ground.
GIANTS UFA PRIMERS: QB Daniel Jones | IOL Nick Gates | RB Saquon Barkley
Why Giants Should Keep Him
The Giants offensive line rebuild has been a long work in progress. For the first time last season, this group established better pocket protection for quarterback Daniel Jones, and a key reason why was because of Feliciano.
A veteran like Feliciano is game-changing, particularly for the young offensive linemen the Giants are grooming. Feliciano was a great leader for this unit throughout the season, and his consistency, amongst an offensive line that had its share of inconsistencies, was also a welcoming sight.
Lastly, Feliciano was a bang for his buck, costing the Giants $3,250,000, which included a signing bonus of $1,250,000. Though that might be steep for some, he lived up to his contract and highlighted, in the process, that he could do even better in 2023, seeing he now has one full season’s worth of experience playing at center.
Why Giants Shouldn’t Keep Him
While Feliciano played quite well as the Giants' center, his pressure tally was a bit concerning, finishing third on the team with 22. Moreover, Feliciano did also struggle with keeping penalties at bay, matching his career high with six this season.
On top of his shakier moments, Feliciano cost the Giants $3.25 million last year, and although that was a good deal, he might want more, seeing how he played and his role. Furthermore, Feliciano will turn 31 years old on February 10, and the Giants might not want to shell out over $4 million for a center that still has plenty to prove.
In short, the Giants know that it’ll be challenging to re-sign all of their free-agent starters with the cap space they have this season, and they will need to decide what kind of one-year deal Feliciano is worth. Should he ask for a larger contract that could limit the Giants' ability to re-sign others, they might want to look elsewhere or have Nick Gates return to the role.
Keep or Dump?
Feliciano was solid last season, and the Giants could use his veteran experience and well-versed skill set at the center position. If the Giants bring back Nick Gates at center, Feliciano is still a very capable guard that can play on the left or right side.
Feliciano also has a great feel for the scheme and sense of direction of the Giants new offensive system, which helped Jones’ success at quarterback in 2022.
If the Giants can secure Feliciano to a cost-efficient contract, he is worth keeping for another year.
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