A veteran counts the cost
Lane Johnson has protected quarterbacks in Philadelphia for more than a decade, and on Saturday he suggested the finish line is close. The Eagles’ All-Pro right tackle told reporters that 2026 will probably be his last season. “As you get older, things change in your life, priorities,” he said. “Your children get older, parents get older. Just puts things into perspective.”
Johnson, who turned 36 in May, framed the decision around life beyond the field. “This is potentially going to be, probably, my last year, just because I am getting to that point of those priorities away from football are starting to merge,” he said. Asked why he went public, he answered simply: “To put my mind at ease.”
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A body that has earned the rest
The timing is not a shock. Johnson missed four practices this week for an excused personal matter and returned Friday, and he had already weighed retirement after a 2025 season cut short by a Lisfranc injury. That injury cost him the final seven regular-season games and the Eagles’ NFC wild-card loss to San Francisco.
The résumé speaks for itself. Philadelphia drafted Johnson fourth overall in 2013, and he has since started 168 regular-season games and 15 more in the playoffs. He owns two Super Bowl rings and six Pro Bowl nods, and he has twice earned first-team All-Pro honors. Few linemen sustain that level for that long.
One more run
Johnson insists the love for the game has not faded, only the math around it. He wants a healthy year and a strong one, then a clean exit on his own terms. For an Eagles line built around him, the countdown just became official, and the 2026 season now carries a different weight.
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