Cameron Johnson Signs with Texans
PHILADELPHIA - The Eagles will have a new punter in 2021.
That's not entirely unexpected after the Eagles failed to tender Cameron Johnston as a restricted free agent but there was always a chance that Philadelphia could have brought back the big-legged Aussie at a lesser number.
Turns out Johnston got a big-money deal - for a punter - on the open market, however. Johnston is expected to sign with the Houston Texans, agreeing on a three-year, $8 million deal which includes $3 million in guarantees.
As an undrafted free agent out of Ohio State, a right of first refusal tender on the punter by the Eagles would have guaranteed Johnson $2.133M in 2021.
Johnston ends his tenure in Philadelphia after three seasons. He nearly beat out Donnie Jones in the 2017 Super Bowl season but former special teams coordinator Dave Fipp defaulted to the veteran for his holding prowess.
The Eagles brought Johnston back after telling him to work on some things and he was entrenched with no competition from 2018-2020.
Johnston has a very big leg but was a bit inconsistent at times when it came to directional kicking and it was notable that the Eagles extended their other two specialists in 2019 - kicker Jake Elliott and long snapper Rick Lovato - but not Johnston.
He averaged 46.7 yards per punt last season, a tremendous number, but had a career-low 41.2 net average. The latter was affected by the team's top gunners - Rudy Ford and Craig James - having injury-plagued seasons.
Over Johnson's three seasons he averaged 47.0 gross yards and 42.1 net yards per punt.
The Eagles did sign punter Arryn Siposs, another Aussie who kicked in college at Auburn, to a futures contract earlier this offseason and could be line to draft a punter later in the 2021 draft next month. Siposs spent last summer with the Detroit Lions but was behind Pro Bowl punter Jack Fox.
The Eagles could be in the market to draft a punter and one who could be on their radar is Pressley Harvin, the Ray Guy winner from Georgia Tech.
READ MORE ON HARVIN: A Powerful Punter for the Eagles? - Sports Illustrated ...
John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every Monday and Thursday on The Middle with Eytan Shander, Harry Mayes, former Eagles OT Barrett Brooks streaming live on both PhillyVoice.com and SportsMap Radio. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
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