Darren Waller’s uncertainty was a green light for Jack Stoll.
The former Eagles tight end got a chance to start with the Giants just an hour and a half away and jumped at the chance, signing a one-year, $1.105 million contract in March.
It’s been more than a month since Waller’s official retirement and nearly a week into training camp, but it appears there’s still a vacancy.
The Giants have rotated their tight ends during training camp practices, with no top player consistently practicing with the first team or Daniel Jones.
“Even just a little bit [of an] “When you get an opportunity, you have to fight for it,” Stoll told The Post on Sunday at training camp. “There are guys in the league that stay five years just to get an opportunity like that, so when an opportunity like that suddenly comes along, I don’t take it for granted. I try to make the most of every opportunity I get to go out there. I do whatever I can to make the most of the opportunity I get to go out there, because there’s a lot of guys in the room.”
“So when it’s your turn, you just go out there and play. It’s exciting and that’s the NFL. It’s a fiercely competitive business.”
Stoll, 26 and in his fourth year, has only had brief stints in the lead role the past two years due to injuries to Eagles starter Dallas Goedert.
Last season, when Goedert missed Weeks 10-12 with a forearm injury, Stoll caught two of four passes for a total of 17 yards in three starts.
He worked his way as far as he could in the Eagles’ system as an undrafted rookie, and with Goedert stepping into the role, Stoll decided it was time to take the next step.
“Obviously, this team didn’t perform as well as we wanted to last year. I wanted to come in and make an impact,” Stoll said of the Giants’ appeal. “I thought this team was a great team. The players thought so too. Coach Daboll was Coach of the Year two years ago, so it was a no-brainer. This team is getting better and better.”
Stoll’s biggest rival will be third-year player Daniel Bellinger, who took over at the position after veteran Waller was injured last season.
Stoll credited Bellinger with making his move to New York much easier.
Fourth-round pick Theo Johnson, Lawrence Cager and veteran Chris Manhertz could also make cases, and the competition will be intense from the pads on Monday.
The Giants waived quarterback Nathan Luke on Sunday morning.
The team acquired him off waivers in May, the day after he was waived by the Patriots.
Daboll said Rourke has not asked to be waived and that the Giants’ plan is to use three quarterbacks in training camp.
But Daboll said the plan to use the three has nothing to do with the injury-prone Jones.
There was an opportunity to declare RT Evan Neal (ankle) fit for Week 1, but Daboll didn’t.
Daboll said Neal, who is listed as physically unable to perform, is improving day by day and “is getting better.”
Catcher John-Michael Schmitz did not participate in the final session of training camp a few days ago but did work out individually on Sunday.
“He had a little bit of shoulder pain. … He’ll be OK, but [we will] Keep an eye on him,” Daboll said.
Johnson was on the physically unable to play list at the start of camp with a hip flexor issue but participated in his first training camp session on Sunday.
“I feel great. My legs are good,” the rookie tight end said. “I’m happy to be out there.”
The Penn State product caught his first pass from Jones in an 11-on-11 drill on Sunday, made a quick run up the middle and is expected to be a full player in Monday’s padded practice.
Daboll credits Pilates with helping him lose 100 pounds during the offseason.
He’s been working in 30- to 45-minute sessions during training camp, but those will soon start to take a back seat as the season heats up.
“It’s called [Pilates Boutique by DTR] “It’s a club in Wyckoff. A friend of my wife owns it, and we were having dinner on a Sunday a few months ago and I said, ‘Hey, I want to give it a try,'” Daboll said. “So I started going. The first few weeks, I wasn’t too happy with it. I was pretty sore, but I kept going. I’d go early in the morning. As you get older, there’s less you can do, so I’ll see how it goes. I don’t have much time to do anything else besides football.”
