Eagles sign Andrew Brewer, waive injured Ron Johnson

The Eagles needed to add another body to the wide receivers corps after Ron Johnson suffered what will turn out to be a season-ending injury on Monday. They made the move on Tuesday, signing Andrew Brewer from the United Football League and waiving/injured Johnson.

Brewer, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound Northwestern product, is a former teammate of Eagles backup quarterback Mike Kafka. He arrived at Northwestern as a quarterback before converting to wide receiver. He played in 2010 and 2011 with the Omaha Nighthawks, whose general manager was Rick Mueller. Mueller is now a player personnel executive with the Eagles. While with the Nighthawks, Brewer caught passes from formerEagles quarterback Jeff Garcia.

Because of the collective barganing agreement, Brewer cannot practice until Friday. By that point, the Eagles will have 11 healthy receivers. Riley Cooper, the 12th receivers, remains out through the preseason with a fractured collarbone.

The Johnson move is mostly procedural, and he could end up back on the Eagles' injured reserve. The "waived/injured" is a special designation for injured players. Had the Eagles just placed him on injured reserve, he would have counted against the 90-man roster. By waiving him injured, the Eagles could retain his rights if he clears waivers and he would not count against the Eagles' roster limit. The Giants tried this with Jake Ballard, who was suprisingly claimed by the Patriots. But Johnson does not yet have the type of NFL resume that would suggest a team would claim him.

Speaking of Johnson, he underwent surgery Monday to correct a fracture and dislocation of the left ankle. The procedure was performed by Peter DeLuca and Steve Raikin in Philadelphia.