Lane Johnson Was Ready to Retire. Now He’s Headed Into His 14th NFL Season at Eagles Minicamp
Lane Johnson did the math on retirement during the offseason. He decided he was not ready.
The Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle was at mandatory minicamp this week, preparing for his 14th NFL season. He turns 36 in May. He missed most of the second half of the 2025 season with a Lisfranc injury that required surgery. He had every reason to walk away.
“I just didn’t want to go out on that note,” Johnson told reporters this week. “Anybody who knows me knows that’s not how I want to do it.”
That note Johnson is referring to was a brutal one. The Lisfranc injury cost him the final eight games of the regular season and the entire playoff run. The Eagles, who had Super Bowl aspirations, looked like a completely different team without him. They lost in the divisional round to a team they probably would have beaten if Johnson had been healthy.
Lisfranc injuries are some of the most career-altering injuries an offensive lineman can have. The recovery is long. The foot is never quite the same. Many lineman who suffer Lisfranc injuries late in their careers do not come back at all. Those who do often play with reduced mobility and increased pain tolerance.
Johnson is betting that he is the exception. He has the body type and the work ethic to push through it. He is also one of the smartest pass blockers in football, which means he can compensate for any lost athleticism with positioning and technique.
The Eagles need this gamble to work. Philadelphia’s offensive line is one of the best in the league when Johnson is healthy. When he is out, the right side of the line becomes a sieve. Backup Fred Johnson is a fine swing tackle, but he is not Lane.
The Eagles also have legitimate Super Bowl aspirations again in 2026. Jalen Hurts is in his prime. Saquon Barkley is one season removed from a 2,000-yard rushing season. The receiver room is loaded with A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. The defense added talent in free agency. Philadelphia is, on paper, one of the three best teams in the NFC.
None of that matters if Lane Johnson cannot stay on the field. He is the single most important player on the Eagles offensive line. He has been the team’s right tackle since 2013, when they drafted him fourth overall out of Oklahoma. He has played at an All-Pro level for most of the last decade.
The retirement question is going to come up again next year. And the year after that. Offensive linemen do not get younger. The hits keep adding up. The foot is going to be a reality every single morning when he wakes up. At some point, the pain is going to outweigh the joy of playing.
This year, the joy is still winning. Johnson watched the Eagles lose in the playoffs from the sideline. He watched his teammates win a Super Bowl in 2024 with him on the field. He knows what it feels like to hoist the trophy. He wants to do it again.
That is the only reason a 36-year-old All-Pro tackle puts his body through another camp, another 17-game regular season, and another playoff run. The Eagles are lucky to have him. Lane is lucky to still want it. The Lisfranc be damned.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
