Grading the signing: Browns add quiet but important piece in free agency, and Cleveland had to have it for 2026
Cleveland is on the board with its fourth addition in free agency.
We are approaching the start of the new league year in the NFL where teams and players can make contracts official from the tampering period.
The Cleveland Browns have just landed their fourth free agent as long as the pen hits the paper and it’s an example of the Browns continuing to overhaul much of their offense.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Browns have agreed to a one-year deal with free agent TE Jack Stoll, most recently of the New Orleans Saints.
Grading the Browns’ newest free agency addition of TE Jack Stoll
While it’s not a splash signing or anything close to it, it’s an important one for the Browns and what they want to do. Cleveland needed to add a blocking tight end who likely will be their third tight end on the roster and Stoll fits the bill.
Stoll is a 6-foot-4, 247-pound tight end who played his college ball at Nebraska and joined the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 2021. Stoll spent just over three seasons with the Eagles before finishing up the 2024 season with the Miami Dolphins.
Most recently, Stoll played 15 games for the Saints in 2025 and made six catches for 46 yards. Stoll’s production has never been much, his best season was in 2022 when he caught 11 passes for 123 yards. The veteran tight end did record his first receiving touchdown in 2025 with the Saints.
Stoll has been an inline tight end for 68.6 percent of his career snaps, per Pro Football Focus. He’s clearly just a guy you want out there to be a physical, extra blocker. It’s known that the Browns were in on former Baltimore Ravens FB Patrick Ricard yesterday, who would have served as the same kind of player in a way.
Cleveland has to run the ball better in 2026 and they have to protect the passer better. Stoll should help them do both of those things. While he’s no lock to make the roster, I think Stoll has everything Cleveland needs from its third tight end.
David Njoku is heading elsewhere in free agency and the Browns could use another tight end to pair with rising star Harold Fannin Jr. The money on this deal for Stoll will come in cheap for the one-year, a very simple signing.
Final grade: B+