FOXBOROUGH, Mass.- The New England Patriots signed free agent defensive lineman Dwight Johnson today. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Johnson, 27, begins his third NFL season and saw action with the New York Giants in 2002 and with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2000. In his two professional campaigns, he has played in 14 regular-season games with two starts and also played in a 2002 postseason contest with the Giants. The 6-foot-4-inch, 290-pound native of Waco, Texas has recorded 14 career tackles (10 solo).
He was originally signed by the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent out of Baylor University on April 19, 2000. Johnson made the Eagles' roster out of training camp and played in four games before being waived and signed to Philadelphia's practice squad, where he spent the remainder of his rookie season. He was allocated to NFL Europe in the spring of 2001, and recorded 25 tackles and a shared sack for the Frankfurt Galaxy. Johnson was waived by the Eagles following 2001 training camp and was signed to the New York Giants' practice squad late that season. He followed with his strongest NFL season in 2002, making the Giants' active roster and playing in 10 games with two starts at left defensive tackle, while also seeing time at left defensive end. He was waived by the Giants in the spring of 2003 and was signed by the San Francisco 49ers prior to training camp. He played in three preseason games with San Francisco in 2003 before he was waived on Aug. 26 and spent the remainder of the season out of football.
