PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - Emergency Pod: Eagles Legend Lane Johnson Abruptly Retires

Episode Date: October 6, 2026

Two days after missing the Eagles' loss to the Los Angeles Rams, perennial All-Pro Lane Johnson officially announced his retirement from the NFL, effectively immediately. Fran Duffy, EJ Smith and Bo Wulf react to the earth-shattering news, reflect on his career and wonder what comes next for the Eagles' offensive line. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello, everybody, and welcome to an emergency pod live from the Xfinity Mobile Studio presented by Xfinity Bowulf, E.J. Smith, and Fran Duffy reacting to the bombshell news dropped by Lane Johnson Tuesday afternoon. That effective immediately, he is retiring from the NFL. We will talk about it, talk about Lane's career. What comes next for the Eagles? E.J. Fran, how are you guys before we get into Lane's statement? I'm doing well. Yeah. is something that was on our radar for a couple of days now. And obviously, huge news, you know, sends shock waves through the building that I'm currently, you know, adjacent to. And also, you know, a moment to reflect on what is one of the greatest careers in franchise history. One of the greatest players in franchise history. If someone were to rank the 26 greatest

players of the century, there's a good chance that Lane Johnson might find himself atop that list. Let's read what Lane said. Obviously, this coming two days after he was a surprise scratch, surprise to the Eagles, a Sunday morning in The Lost to the Rams. Here's what Lane says. Philadelphia, you truly are the city of brotherly love, the best fans and the most prideful city in the entire world. I have given it my all for 14 years, season after season, pushing my body to the max and tirelessly working my craft to not only live up to the legacy of the guys that came before me, but to set a new standard of success for the best franchise in all of sports. I deeply wanted to gut it out for one more year,

to take the field with my brothers for one last season. But after a lot of reflection, I've realized that my personal and family priorities in my life have changed. Right now, it is critical that I focus on my mental health. I owe it to my teammates, coaches, the organization, and the fans to have my head and heart 100% in the game. And right now, my heart is telling me that it's time to say goodbye to football. At this time, I have made the incredibly difficult decision to retire from the National Football League.

Riding up Broad Street as a world champion not once but twice, and seeing the city in all its glory was the ultimate privilege. I'll never forget it. Thank you to Jeffrey Lurie and the entire Eagles organization for taking a chance on a kid from small town, East Texas, and changing my life forever. And thank you to the many coaches and teammates I've had the honor of working with and playing alongside for the past 14 years. Y'all have become lifelong friends and the brothers that I never had. Right now, what's most important to me is continuing to focus on my mental health and spending more time with my kids and family.

But Philadelphia will always be home and I will forever be an eagle. Thank you for the love and the enduring support. Hashtag fly. He goes fly. hashtag pave the lane. Fran, you were there when Lane was drafted? Yeah. So you were there for all 14 years of his career.

When you hear this news, what do you think about? You know, there's so many resounding themes when I think of like the career of Lane Johnson, right? I think of obviously one of the best tackles in modern history, not right, tackles, like one of the best offensive tackles, one of the best offensive linemen in modern NFL history, a guy that should walk into the Hall of Fame when you look at the sustained peak of play at the top of his game, a guy that you could leave on an island. And he's talked about it this offseason about like how the scheme, you know, they're moving into, you know, with Sean Manion, like, oh, I'm not used to having this level of help because he was left on an

island so often for so long and not even just against like your B rushers like Khalil Mack in his prime, Micah Parsons, Von Miller. You go down the, I remember there was that stretch in the 2017 season where they, it was like a murderer's row of pass rushers and Lane Johnson went one on one with all those guys and won the matchup time after time after time. So it's like that sustained level of excellence absolutely stands out. you see a player that fought through early adversity, like getting baptized by Ryan Kerrigan in a division in division rivalry games over and over again. And, you know, going through those mental health things and being able to come out on the other side and share that story.

That to me is like outstanding. Player development as a guy that would, you know, I remember the pre-draft process was lane. He was a junior college quarterback who arrived at Oklahoma as a tight end and moved to offensive line and was like, oh, like maybe a day two pick in the. and then he goes to Senior Bowl, was lights out of the Senior Bowl. And then Jeff Stoutland have a first year on the job, first offseason on the job, saying like, yeah, this is the number one tackle. Three tackles went in the top five that year. Jeff Stoughtland had him number one in those rankings.

He ended up going third. The Eagles end up with Lane Johnson and turn him into a Hall of Famer. And obviously a lot of work done from Lane on that standpoint. So, you know, I think of the positional value of right tackle versus left tackle and how he was such a big, you know, big reason for that change. in that discourse. So so many things like coming over me, but I think that when you see Lane Johnson,

like he is one of the best eagles of all time and certainly one of the best tackles of all time. And the conversation about mental health that he has helped move forward along with Brandon Brooks, the ability to hold that duality, where he is a mountain of a man, a legendary, you know, Rushmore level player for the Eagles this century.

All the things you said, Fran, the best right tackle in football. League-wide, you know, help start the OL masterminds thing where he is like he is in the, in the brotherhood of NFL offensive linemen. This is a guy who was like a flag bear, right? And also willing to be publicly vulnerable and talk about the things that he struggles with. So there is certainly a whole lot wrapped into the legacy of Lane Johnson that we will have time to unpack. And, you know, EJ, at some point here, we can get to the short term and medium term ramifications of this. But for now, let's let's focus on your Lane Johnson memories.

Yeah, I think the person jumps out. You know, he is the best player I've covered in my time covering the Eagles, which, you know, obviously it's not as long as either of you guys, but still says a lot that I think that, I think that. a lot of guys would agree that he is probably the most talented player on this roster in recent memory. But really, the person is what stands out to me. You know, I remember after Super Bowl 59, you know, him, like, congratulating reporters on the Super Bowl and him saying, like, you know, you guys are a part of this too. And to think about the significance for him and his career, you know, being a two-time Super Bowl champion with this organization, you know, the impact he's had on people like Jordan Milata, you know, and the influence that he has on the locker,

overall. Jalen Hertz, you know, as another person who will point to Lane and being a really influential member of this team, obviously both of them from Texas and they have that connection. So, yeah, I think the influence that he had behind the scenes, and I think you put it well, Bo, you know, he was a superhero on the field, but incredibly comfortable, being vulnerable and being open about things he struggled with off the field. And I think that's incredibly important work, just not only for Eagles fans and, you know, NFL fans, but also for people in that locker room to know that it is okay to struggle with things. and that, you know, being a human in a setting that sometimes, you know, you don't always make space for that type of thing.

I think it is important that he did that so consistently. So, yeah, again, Lane Johnson, the person, you know, the guy who hanging out in the locker room, you know, a prideful guy also, you know, a guy who wanted to be recognized for what he, what we all believe he is is one of the best players in the NFL, one of the best players in franchise history. Those types of conversations are going to be the thing I think about when I think about Lane Johnson. Yeah, I think that's that is part of Lane's legacy and the things that we come to know about him is that this is a guy who cared deeply about his own legacy. And I think that's maybe part of the reason why despite being up in the air, he did try to push to play this season. But as a player, Fran, having covered, you know, 20 years of tackles coming into the league, what is it about Lane that made Lane so special on the field? field. Outrageous physical specimen, right?

When you talk about like the athleticism, but then also like the natural power and the anchor strength that got better over the course of his career. And a lot of that was like, you know, technique fake, technique focus. And he's he's talking about that as like, yeah, I had to learn how to play with my body how that's different than, you know, how Jason Peters would play or how, you know, insert offensive tackle, you know, ABC would play. just saying the evolution that goes with that. And then taking that knowledge and sharing that with the young players like you mentioned with,

and I should have mentioned, like the helping with the creation of the O-Line masterminds and the formulation of that now, which like hundreds of young offensive line had benefit from that event every single summer now, you know, across the country. So I think when you're looking at Lane, to me, he was a guy that was able to check all the boxes from an offensive line standpoint. And, you know, I think about this with every different prospect of different, different position is like all right like all the ways with which you can win lane johnson was an a plus

in athleticism strength power effort technique like just like check all the boxes uh and that's what made him great was that he could beat you in so many different ways and also had a you know a higher degree of difficulty for the job that he was given right than many other tackles around the league and i think that i think that is wrapped up in kind of his um obsession with his standing in the league like oh well Trent, Trent Williams is asked to do what I have to do. Same for, you know, Penae Sewell or whoever it is. Lane was, Lane was the best. And obviously leaves a large shadow now for the Eagles in the short and long term.

Do we have any other thoughts on Lane before we get to, before we get to that? Just on, like, what comes to mind. I'm just, you know, it's all rushing through. I'm thinking of talking to Jeff Stoutland about that workout at East Stroudsburg. I'm thinking back to, I once did an oral history of his year in Juko, you know, as a as a non-offensive lineman, as a quarterback then turned tight end. And like the guys, you know, Chase Ford was on that team with him, ends up going. And Lane tells the story of there's one Juko day where they show up there, who knows what team they're playing. And all of a sudden this guy on the other sideline is doing like backflips.

And it turns out to be Jason Pierre Paul. And just like this rag tag bunch of guys. and who would have thought that he turns into a Hall of Fame level tackle. I'm thinking about the toe spacers, one of the great little eyed thing in the locker room, that he just has this little contraption to keep his toes apart. The underdog masks. The underdog masks. The underdog masks is one I was going to bring up because this is a good window into how people view Lane Johnson and the Eagles organization.

Because, yeah, he's got these little plastic things he puts in between his toes. when he's not on the field. And the idea is, you know, you don't want your toes to get compacted by the cleats. And now you can't walk through the Eagles locker room without seeing somebody wear him. And it's not just offensive line. It's defensive line. And it's linebackers. And it shows you in a locker room full of, you know, special athletes.

They look at Lane Johnson and he is like the golden standard. You know, I remember I did a story about Seekwan Barkley and the money that he spends on his body. And, you know, I asked him, do you think you're the one who spends the most? And he goes, no, I think it's lame. you know, the commitment he had to working behind the scenes to be the best, which, you know, he achieved. I think that there was a real admiration in the Eagles locker room for that. The toughness, all of the things that he played through over the years.

And I'm just, I'm thinking about how difficult these past couple months must have been for him because we know that, you know, he considered retirement in the offseason to come back with no Jeff Stoutland, with the promise of playing in a scheme that was going to be a little bit more lane friendly. to have, you know, have to leave in the middle of training camp because he was struggling with something and to then come back and go through whatever it is he went through this weekend, which we don't know. But I'm sure that he felt the weight of having let his teammates down by, you know, pulling out the last second. You know, I'm sure that this was, this has been a very difficult time for him. So your heart goes out to him on that front.

Absolutely. You know, I remember at the end of the last season trying to battle back from that Liz Frank. injury. I know that that took a real toll on him. And I know that his teammates felt, you know, the emotional, I don't want to say that he let them down, but it just in a way, like, where they felt the emotion for him, you know, like they, their heart broke for him that he wasn't able to come back that season. And, you know, thinking back to when he came back to training camp this summer, the emotion, the palpable emotion that you could feel from teammates, you know, current, former people around the organization, when he was back and understanding what that meant,

the significance of it. You know, it's not lost on anybody. I'm sure that it's the same now where, you know, I think you put it perfectly, though, where it's like your heart breaks for him because you know that he would love to be out here, but he's kind of getting pulled in different directions, which is another very human thing.

You know, a lot of people can identify and understand that, you know, both of his parents are going through medical issues. You can completely understand that that's a, you know, that's been a real struggle for him. And again, it speaks to his willingness to be vulnerable and be open about what is going going on in his life in a way that I really tip my cap to.

Also, also a guy that like, and I would say a rare in terms of his ability to be a reliable narrator. And that is like for external messaging, but also like internally as well, like tell it how it is. Like, you know, willing to go to coaches and say like, hey, like, this is what we need to do. This is who we are. Like we talk about this team right now and talk about like the identity and things like that. Like Lane has been at the forefront of changing the scope of that team.

Not like just in 2024, but like, like. you go back numerous times over the course of his career, you know, his ability to be that sounding board for coaches, but then also like that microphone for the players when needed, I think that that is also like a huge role that he had with that team. Well, your team's starting lineup may change, but the price of your internet will not.

Check out the five-year price guarantee from Xpenny. I'm thinking about some of the fun stories of like Lane's, Brian and himself where like before games he would send pictures of Eric Fisher to his agent and being like this. I can't believe they took this guy ahead of me. Like, you know, what's he doing now? Just crazy stuff. Now, in the short term, E.J. I'm going to ask you and then run and get my charger real quick.

But we saw Markle Bell start on Sunday. I would imagine he's got a pretty long runway here to go and run with it. What do you think is going to happen for the Eagles? Yeah, I definitely think it'll be Mark Hell Bell at right tackle for the foreseeable future. And this now becomes kind of a long-term audition for Mark Hell Bell to be the heir apparent. And, you know, I see some people talking about this in the chat that the Eagles usually do have a better succession plan than this for a player of Lane Johnson's stature. And obviously, Markle Bell, a third round pick. And I know that the organization feels really good about what they've seen from him since, you know, you know, you joined the.

team in the summer. And I do. I think that this is going to be his chance to now prove that he can be the successor to Lane Johnson. You know, it's, it feels almost strange because they were trying for so long to find that successor. You know, it was years where, you know, you go into the draft and you'd feel like, okay, they might take a tackle early here. But yeah, I think that Markle Bell, he's got the physical traits to have a good chance at earning this job, especially if you look at some of the other holes on the roster. I don't think the Eagles are necessarily going to, like, force a tackle in the draft if they if mark obel shows enough in the next couple of months now but yeah it's a good opportunity for him obviously you know he was thrust into the lineup um you know last sunday but i think that uh you know

he's going to have a chance to settle in now and prove that this can be his job more for more for the for the long term here friend do you think that howie roseman would have played this off season differently if he knew that this was coming down the pike yeah you know i'm seeing a lot of that in the chat in terms of like you know they they really blew how they handled this off season when you look at, you knew that this was possibility. Everyone knows that the Eagles were in the tackle market in the draft, right? I mean, I'm sure they would have loved for one of those offensive tackles to get within striking distance, but it's not that they passed on, you know, a bunch of options.

There was really, it's really one player. They prioritize Mackay Lemon over Maxi Honichore who went one slot ahead of them or one slot behind them. I mean, they could, in theory, they could have given more to trade up and. Yeah, you know, but at the end of day, like it takes two to tango. And if you couldn't make the move up, you couldn't make the move up. I think that, you know, this is a team that, yes, historically has always, like, placed a big priority along the offensive line. I don't think that that has changed. I think that they will always continue to put a lot of priority at that spot, at that group.

It doesn't always work that way where you're always able to pump the roster full of those resources. And so, yeah, I think that to me, I don't think that they would have necessarily, like, changed everything. but yeah, if they had their druthers, like I'm sure they probably would love to have another like high-priced offensive tackle or like a high-predigree offensive tackle in the pipeline. But we talked about it back in the summer when Lane came out and announced that this was going to be his last season. I think let's see how the Markell Bell situation plays out. I think that look, it wasn't the prettiest debut, but obviously it was different circumstances in terms of like found out that morning that he was going to get the start. So we'll see how he looks here in the final 13 games, the regular season. EJ, a question that is probably impossible to answer, and it's purely speculation.

But you do wonder how this would have played out if Jeff Stylund were still here. Yeah, you absolutely do. You think about the fact that I think it's fair to say at this point that the Eagles convince Lane Johnson to come back this season. I think it's fair to say that. And as a result, like, you know, is the gravity of Jeff Stoutland enough? Now, again, it's impossible to say without knowing the ins and outs of Lane's personal situation. But, yeah, I think that their relationship, we haven't, we talked a little bit about it,

but they have a special relationship, you know, and that's not to say the Lane doesn't have special relationships with other people in this building, but yeah, it does make you wonder. And from a future, like a forward-looking standpoint here, I think that Stoutland's absence now, becomes even more of a factor in like, how do you feel about this offensive line moving forward? You know, you had a coach that developed all of these all pro talents and, you know, injuries and now a retirement, leave you in a spot where the offensive line is going to be a question mark over the next couple seasons for an organization that always is going to prioritize, you know, spending significant draft capital to try and make sure that they have an elite group across the board.

So, yeah, I think that even in the future we're going to be talking about is Chris Cooper, the offensive line developer that Jeff Staling was. And obviously that's a really high bar. If you can get in the neighborhood, you probably feel good about that. But yeah, it's a legitimate question in the next couple seasons. A couple superchats to get to. David Tomey says, miced up for 387. Lane broke the huddle saying, best in the world,

then did it down in, down out for 10 more seasons. Best ever. Just know what? I'm sure the Eagles will put out because I just because, the short notice. I'm sure the Eagles will put out like best of Lane Johnson content over the next days and months, or days, weeks and months, I'll be soaking all that up because there'll be some good stuff in there. David also says Lane Johnson made me pay more attention to the offensive line and to my own mental health. Knows literally no equal as a modern day right tackle and frankly

any pro athlete pave the lane forever. It's awesome. Very well said. Yeah, absolutely. I think we've had one other one. Here we go. Dinkleberg. Sending in a super chat to please ask for a moment of silence on the pod in honor of the goat. Go birds, baby. Okay, let's do a little.

No. Balance for Lane. Okay. Why is that funny? Because I feel like it was just like, like, like, Dick knows that he's just trying to get you in trouble. Like, you know, it's not the greatest podcast content to do a moment of silence. You know, we should have given them a prompt, like do something in the moment of silence, at least. Yeah, maybe next time.

Do a little jump set, you know, get... Yeah, we could all have a jump set, yeah. Go right on the snap count and it'll make it look like you're false starting. Hey, you know what? Here's another thing that I think has been mentioned before, but with Lane's body and Dickerson and Juergens, you do wonder, E.J., about the ramifications of all the Tushman. if that has been a factor with all three of those guys.

Yeah, I think that that Super Bowl run in general, the attrition of that 2000-yard season, I think we will look back five years from now and really have a strong, like a strong feel for just how, how hard that was on all those guys. You know, Sequin maybe wasn't the one that took the ultimate toll from that season. So yeah, I think the touch pushes are in there, but I think overall that, run heavy season. You know, it's obviously a season they wouldn't trade, but I do think the physical toll has really showed up.

Rivera says net sellers at the deadline. Rique and Ojimo. I don't know. Is it going to get that bad? You know, it would take a lot, I think, to get to that point, my guess. I can't, even when they've been bad, I don't really remember how we ever selling.

Selling, yeah. I guess in 2020, they were still like, they almost made the playoffs even in 2020 so that wasn't it wouldn't have done it then not midseason I don't think right yeah yeah it had to be pretty bad that's that's

you know the only thing I would say about it yeah all right well good stuff we're going to have a lot more time the rest of the week to unpack all of this but for now the breaking news Lane Johnson is retiring as

Eagle, one of the greatest players in franchise history. Markell Bell for the foreseeable future. Right tackle is yours. But now is the time to remember our favorite memories of Lane Johnson and tip our cap to one of the great players in franchise history on the field and vulnerable off the field as well. Idiot Sandwich checks in with a last super chat. It's reminded of Bakhtiari's fraudulent all pros over Lane. thousand percent yeah this is one where like the the the actual tallying of the accolades does not reflect his standing in the league over the course of the last 14 years as as the best for probably 10 years

but i think i think i think i think he'll have his gold jacket i think yeah you'd think he'd be a hall-offamer absolutely yeah maybe he and kelsey could go in together that'd be fun yeah why not years removed. Kelsey might get in first. I'm about to say you think Kelsey will take a couple years? I kind of don't. Yeah, I don't think so either. There might be a video out there somewhere about that. Maybe like 30 minutes or so.

Okay. All right. Good stuff, guys. Thank you, E.J. Thank you, Fran. Thank you, Lindsay. Thank you, everybody in the chat. Let us know in the comments your favorite Lane Johnson memories. And stay tuned for Brandon Graham unblocked tomorrow at noon on Wednesday. where we'll talk about this further. And then, of course, on a Thursday, 2 o'clock show,

thank you, everybody. Lane Johnson officially retired, an earth-shattering move for the current Eagles, but a time to reflect on one of the greats. So thank you to Lane Johnson. Thank you, E.J., thank you, Fran. Thank you, Lindsay. We'll talk to you later.

And as always, we love you.