The Eagles on Sunday afternoon signed long snapper Christian Johnstone and waived defensive back BJ Mayes in a corresponding move.
The signing of Johnstone comes after veteran long snapper Charley Hughlett was a limited participant in Sunday morning’s practice with a neck injury.
Without another long snapper on the team, the Eagles needed to make a move. They now have two spots on their 90-man roster devoted to the long snapper position. But at least this signing will allow them to run their kicking and punting operations until Hughlett can return.
Johnstone played five seasons at Appalachian State and snapped in 65 games. Johnstone was a tryout player at Broncos rookie camp this spring.
Mayes, who will hit the waiver wire, is an undrafted defensive back out of Texas A&M. He signed with the Eagles on May 2.
Hughlett, 35, signed with the Eagles this offseason after spending 10 seasons with the Cleveland Browns. From 2015-2024, Hughlett played in 152 games with the Browns. Hughlett was limited to five games in 2024 before being placed on IR with a hip injury. That ended his consecutive games streak at 152.
Hughlett this season replaces longtime long snapper Rick Lovato, who was the long snapper for both of the Eagles’ Super Bowl-winning teams in 2017 and 2024. Lovato joined the Eagles during the 2016 season and played 135 games (15 more in the playoffs) in his nine seasons in Philly.
While the Eagles made a switch at long snapper for the 2025 season, they still have kicker Jake Elliott and punter Braden Mann returning to round out their specialist group.
The Eagles will practice on Monday and Tuesday this week ahead of their preseason opener at home against the Bengals on Thursday night.
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