Eagles’ Jack Stoll excited to face Giants after getting ‘smacked in the mouth’ in New York

Jack Stoll and Cam Jurgens were teammates at Nebraska. They lived together in a South Philly townhouse in 2022, Jurgens’ rookie year with the Eagles. The center was the best man in Stoll’s wedding this summer.

Their football careers diverged in the offseason when Stoll signed a one-year deal with the New York Giants. Needless to say, the tight end always had a place to stay in Jurgens’ home if he ever was back in the area. In fact, on Aug. 27, Stoll invited himself over the night after he was cut by the Giants and with an agreement to return to the Eagles in place.

“He was like, ‘Hey, I’m back,’” Jurgens said Thursday. “‘I’m staying at the house tonight.’ I was like, ‘Perfect.’”

It was a perfect situation for Stoll, too, returning to the team that signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2021 and a mostly unchanged tight ends room under Jason Michael, their position coach. After getting “smacked in the mouth” in New York, Stoll said he was fortunate that the Eagles were willing to welcome him back with open arms.

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Stoll, 26, admitted that he never should have left in the first place. He was a restricted free agent in the offseason and the Eagles ultimately did not tender him (the lowest-value tender in 2024 was $2.99 million). In turn, Stoll became an unrestricted free agent and signed a one-year, $1.11 million contract with the Giants. However, he expressed in retrospect that he thought the Eagles eventually would have offered him a deal.

“Not getting too deep into it, but it was one of those, kind of, ‘We’ll see what happens,’ and then I think I ended up taking it the wrong way, as if they didn’t want me,” Stoll said. “Which I think they would’ve ended up doing it.

“And I’ll say this: one thing is Howie [Roseman]’s always been truthful to me. He’s always shot it straight with me. So that’s another thing I probably took for granted, is just having someone like that who is honest. I started looking into a little bit of the wrong things, and it was probably a little bit [more] of an emotional decision than what it should’ve been.”

Stoll hinted that his issue with the Giants centered on a lack of transparency and promises that were not kept, although he was hesitant to go into detail beyond that.

“I think that there were some things that were told me to me that never ended up coming to fruition, and there’s not a lot of ... how do I word this?” Stoll said. “There was a lot of stuff going on where, again, there was no honesty there. That’s where I think a little bit of the frustration lies. So I’ll leave it at that.”

As a result, Stoll said he’s “pretty excited” to return to MetLife Stadium on Sunday, where he figures to have a role in the Eagles offense in the absence of Dallas Goedert. Stoll and Grant Calcaterra saw an uptick in snaps against the Cleveland Browns in Week 6, as Kellen Moore leaned heavily on 12 personnel packages in his game plan.

Calcaterra hauled in a career-high four receptions for 67 yards. Stoll contributed without the ball in his hands, springing DeVonta Smith for a touchdown on a mesh concept in which the tight end essentially set a legal pick on the defender trailing the wide receiver. Stoll tipped his cap to Nick Sirianni for his emphasis on teaching players the route details that help make plays like Smith’s touchdown possible.

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“It’s been a fun offense,” Stoll said. “Obviously, there’s some tweaks to it, especially compared to 2023. So it’s been fun diving in, getting to know the ins and outs, and getting to know some of the minor details. It’s been fun. I can’t wait to keep learning.”

Stoll’s calling card has always been his ability as a blocker. Calcaterra lauded his technique, including his footwork and his hand placement. Jurgens echoed a similar sentiment, acknowledging that Stoll is a “football guy” who is willing to do the dirty work needed to help the team win.

“I think just his willingness to go in there, no matter who it is, and just get vertical,” Jurgens said. “It’s always super important whenever you’re blocking somebody to be square to the line of scrimmage and press vertical, and a lot of people get turned, and he does a really good job of staying square and attacking people vertically.”

Off the field, Calcaterra said that Stoll is the “jokester” of the tight ends room and always tries to find a way to make his teammates smile. On Sunday, facing against the Giants for the first time since being released, Stoll will look to have the last laugh.

“I’m looking forward to going out there and at least proving them wrong,” Stoll said.

The Eagles play in Week 7 against the New York Giants. Join Eagles beat reporters Olivia Reiner and EJ Smith as they dissect the hottest storylines surrounding the team on Gameday Central, live from MetLife Stadium.