Eagles lose former draft pick after he gets claimed by Giants

The New York Giants claimed edge rusher Patrick Johnson on Tuesday after the Eagles discarded him on Monday afternoon.

The Eagles had to make room on the roster for backup center Nick Gates, so they released Johnson, 26, to that effect. For Monday night’s game, the Eagles could only raise two of the three practice squad players that they essentially needed to: OL Gates, WR Parris Campbell, and TE E.J. Jenkins. Gates needed to find a position on the roster, and they promoted Jenkins and Campbell.

In order to make room for Gates, Johnson was waived, and the Giants—who were still sixth in the waiver claim sequence after last year’s play—claimed him. It’s unknown if other clubs made a claim for the star special teams player and edge rusher.

The Eagles would have probably preferred to have Johnson return to the practice squad if he had cleared waivers. They can’t now.

While cutting a guy who has contributed and spent a significant amount of time on special teams during his NFL career raises some red flags, it’s not the end of the world.

Johnson, a 2021 Tulane graduate, was selected by the Eagles in the seventh round, and he quickly established himself. Johnson has participated in 49 games with two starts during his four years in the NFL. Johnson had not played much defense in Philadelphia, but he was an important part of the Eagles’ special teams squads.

Johnson played a total of 892 special teams snaps in his 49 career games with the Eagles; however, his last meaningful defensive play occurred in 2022. Since 2021, that is by far the most any Eagles player has ever had.

Patrick Johnson: 892
McPhearson, Zech: 687
Jack Stoll: 616

Bradley Shaun: 594
Josh Jobe: 543

While Stoll is on the practice squad, the top five Eagles in special teams snaps during the Nick Sirianni era are no longer on the 53-man roster. Special teams coordinator Michael Clay may suffer from this loss because the Eagles had a strong special teams squad in 2023.

Jalyx Hunt, a rookie selected in the third round, played in his first NFL game on Monday night without Johnson. Hunt played 13 special teams snaps but received no defensive snaps. From now on, that will be his main responsibility.