Eagles To Waive T Fred Johnson

Fred Johnson is now being moved off the roster. Philly is cutting the veteran blocker, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. Fred Johnson has been with the Eagles since 2023, but he has only played 24 offensive snaps this season.

Philly re-signed Fred Johnson to a one-year, $2.1MM deal in March, doing so after he played a career-high 626 offensive snaps last season. But the team has used rookie Markel Bell as its right tackle since Lane Johnson’s retirement. Fred Johnson was the recently retired (but still-rostered) RT’s injury replacement last season, but the 29-year-old blocker has taken a backseat to a third-round pick this year.

Because this move occurred after the trade deadline, Fred Johnson — a vested veteran — will need to clear waivers before becoming a free agent. Had the Eagles made this decision last week, the player would have passed straight to street free agent status. It is worth wondering if the Eagles dangled the eighth-year vet in trades before making this move.

This decision also comes after the Eagles waived Marquise Brown, a move the wide receiver requested. Like Fred Johnson, Brown had not made much of a contribution to this Eagles edition’s cause. Because the Eagles are cutting Johnson today, he will be on waivers until 3pm CT Monday.

A 2019 Bengals UDFA, Johnson spent three years in Cincinnati before playing five 2022 games with Tampa Bay. The Eagles added Johnson on a practice squad deal in November 2022. He did not play for the NFC champion Philly iteration that year but stayed on via a reserve/futures deal months later. The Eagles used Johnson as a six-game starter in their Super Bowl-winning 2024 season, when he logged 351 snaps at left tackle (in place of an injured Jordan Mailata) and 119 at RT.

Teams certainly prioritize O-line depth at this time of year, so it is no lock Johnson clears waivers and becomes a possible Eagles practice squad option. The Eagles will incur nearly $2MM in dead money from this transaction if Johnson goes unclaimed. An acquiring team would be on the hook for barely $600K in base salary.