Lane Johnson Retires Mid-Season After 14 Years Anchoring the Eagles’ Offensive Line
PHILADELPHIA — Lane Johnson, the right tackle who anchored the Philadelphia Eagles’ offensive line for 14 seasons and two Super Bowl championships, announced his retirement from the NFL on Tuesday, walking away in the middle of the season.
Johnson, 36, said in a statement posted on social media that he had wanted to finish one more season but concluded that his personal and family priorities had changed, and that focusing on his mental health is now critical. He wrote that his teammates, coaches, the organization and the fans deserve someone whose head and heart are fully in the game, and that his heart is telling him it is time to say goodbye to football, USA Today reported.
The announcement closes a career spent entirely in Philadelphia. The Eagles selected Johnson with the fourth overall pick in the 2013 draft, and he started all 186 games he played, including the playoffs, Reuters reported. He earned six Pro Bowl selections and was named a first-team All-Pro twice, and he stood at the center of the franchise’s most successful era — three NFC championships and the first two Super Bowl titles in team history.
Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie called Johnson “an all-time Eagle” and one of the best players ever at his position, and said he has no doubt the lineman will one day be named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Reuters reported.
Johnson’s final full season ranked among his finest. He did not allow a sack and surrendered only one quarterback hit across 451 pass-blocking opportunities in 2024, the season the Eagles won Super Bowl LIX behind Saquon Barkley’s 2,000-yard rushing year, Eagles Wire reported.
The timing deepens an already difficult week for the 2-2 Eagles. Johnson missed Sunday’s 24-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams for personal reasons, and he had also missed four training camp practices this summer. Upon his return to camp, he said the 2026 season would likely be his last, citing his mother’s health and his children’s development as factors in his thinking, USA Today reported.
The loss compounds an injury crisis up front. Barkley is week to week with a hamstring injury after leaving Sunday’s game on the second snap, backup running back Tank Bigsby is headed to injured reserve, and center Cam Jurgens entered the concussion protocol after self-reporting symptoms on Monday, leaving the Eagles short-handed in the trenches ahead of Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London.