Eagles officially announce signing of two veterans, subsequent roster cuts

Well, this just confirms what we’ve known for almost 24 hours in one instance and about 16 in another. We learned of Anthony Harris‘ visit on Tuesday afternoon and the Philadelphia Eagles’ decision to sign both he and former Pro Bowl punter Brett Kern at around dinner time. Philly announced their addition to the practice squad on Wednesday shortly after much of the East Coast breaks for lunch.

Their additions meant that subsequent moves had to be made, and they were announced as well. Arryn Siposs heads to Philadelphia’s injured reserve while the Birds released both wide receiver Auden Tate and safety Marquise Blair from the practice squad.

Philly now has one available spot on the active 53-man roster thanks to Siposs now being on injured reserve.

Here’s the Eagles’ expected plan with Anthony Harris and Brett Kern.

These are probably the best moves that the Philadelphia Eagles could have made this late in the season. With C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Reed Blankenship both injured, K’Von Wallace is the next man up on the depth chart. He played in relief on Blankenship during Week 14’s game versus the New York Giants, racking up five tackles in the process, but Philly still needed insurance at safety.

Anthony Harris is someone that they’re familiar with. He’s familiar with Jonathan Gannon’s scheme as well. The move makes sense. The Eagles can elevate him from the scout team to the active roster three times during the next few weeks which seems to be the plan.

The same is true for Brett Kern. Rather than place him on the active roster, Philadelphia can house him on the practice squad and simply elevate him to the active roster prior to game days.

There’s no word on what Harris’ addition means in terms of Gardner-Johnson’s expected timetable for return, but rumor has it that he’d be back for the postseason at the earliest. It’s all speculation at this point. For now, we have to be patient and just wait to see what happens.