The Cleveland Browns, unfortunately, lost David Njoku to free agency this offseason, which leaves a glaring hole on the roster despite the fact that his role was reduced this past season due to the emergence of rookie Harold Fannin Jr. Regardless, it still hurts to see the nine-year veteran walk, but it opened an opportunity for new beginnings.
Fannin has a path to becoming potentially the league’s best receiving tight end. It’s a lofty goal, but he was historically great in college and showed exactly who he is as one of the youngest rookies in the league, which is why it was wise for the front office to go out and bring in a traditional blocking tight end to help him out.
The Browns recently signed free agent tight end Jack Stoll to a one-year deal to round out the tight end room.
It was a sensible move, but Bleacher Report’s NFL staff isn’t the biggest fan of it.
“Grade: C+,” Bleacher Report’s NFL Staff wrote. “The Cleveland Browns have a dynamic receiving tight end in second-year man Harold Fannin Jr. With David Njoku hitting free agency, through, they needed additional depth at the position. They’ll get in in the form of blocking tight end Jack Stoll. Cleveland is signing Stoll to a one-year deal, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. The 28-year-old appeared in 15 games with four starts with the New Orleans Saints this past season.”
Njoku was officially released alongside Wyatt Teller on Thursday and should have plenty of suitors on the open market despite the fact that he is coming off arguably the least productive year of his career.
Stoll caught just six passes for the New Orleans Saints last season and has just 28 receptions in his five years in the NFL. None of that matters because the Browns are bringing in an entirely new offensive line and desperately need blocking help wherever they can find it, including at tight end. Fannin just isn’t that kind of guy, which is fine.
It’s unclear why Bleacher Report gave this signing a C+, but the Browns filled a position of need for a minor cost, which is exactly the kind of move that you make when you have limited cap space and a lot of voids to fill.
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