Eagles Lane Johnson Discusses Retirement Issue After Final Training Camp Practice

The longtime Eagles right tackle could be next to follow Brandon Graham, Jason Kelce, and Fletcher Cox out the door into retirement, but when?

Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson stretches before a training camp practice. / Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

PHILADELHIA – Lane Johnson won’t be next. That distinction will go to Brandon Graham, but Johnson doesn’t seem too far away from following Graham into retirement.

Graham has already said this will be his final season – unless he gets 15 sacks, then maybe he returns for Year 16. As of now, this Graham’s farewell season. Jason Kelce and Fletcher Cox had their swan songs after last season and moved on to retirement.

Johnson, now 34, gave some thoughts about when he may call it a career following Wednesday’s final practice and the last practice of training camp.

"I'm thinking two to three more years, realistically,” he said, “but we'll see. It's hard to step away from something you love and something that you've done for so long.”

He later amended the retirement timeline to, “At least, two, three, four good years.”

Johnson is an only child, and his teammates are the closest thing he has to brothers. That’s a factor he will weigh when the retirement issue begins to rear its head more often.

“As an only child, this is really like the only brothers that I've had; being part of a team,” he said.

Eagles OT Lane Johnson mossed practice on July 29 with a toe injury. / John McMullen/Eagles on SI

Johnson’s father, David, has also had health problems recently, so that is a factor, too. So are his three children.

“What weighs on my mind is my kids are getting older, my dad is getting older,” he said.

Drafted fourth overall out of Oklahoma in 2013, Johnson keeps in terrific shape during the offseason, and the Eagles’ right tackle is the glue to the line. Whenever he hasn’t been able to play through the years, the Eagles have a losing record.

Someday, he will be gone, though he believes he can play for longer than what he may end up doing.

“I think physically I can do what (Andrew) Whitworth and JP (Jason Peters) did,” he said. “I think I can play til 40. With my movement, you ask coaches, you ask players. Physically I can do it.”

Peters and Whitworth both played into their 40s. Whitworth’s final season was 2021. Peters played last season and is listed as a free agent at the age of 42.

How much longer will Johnson go?

The Eagles need to eventually prepare for when that day comes, perhaps finding his replacement in a not-too-dstant future draft.

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