Retirement was just the tip of the iceberg for the Philadelphia Eagles and OT Lane Johnson
Lane Johnson’s decision to retire was the end of his playing career. But it was the beginning of something else altogether for the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Philadelphia Eagles will play their first game in over a decade without Lane Johnson serving as an active player. But they’ll need to wait a while longer to play their first game without Johnson on the active roster.
According to reports this morning, Johnson is going to be kept on the active roster throughout the rest of the season and until June 1st of 2027. The intention is to soften the blow of Johnson’s debt against the salary cap — especially as the Eagles start to shift their focus on who else they can transition away from. It’s about as rare of a decision as you’ll find in the salary cap era.
The Philadelphia Eagles are reportedly going to carry retired Lane Johnson on their roster for the next eight months
“The Eagles are expected to keep Johnson on the 53-man roster throughout the season, rather than move him to the reserve/retired list. The plan is for Johnson to stay on the 53-man roster until after June 1 for salary cap reasons, while it also maintains an open window in the unlikely event he changes his mind.”
— NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport
Think about this for a moment. The Philadelphia Eagles are going to carry 52 players on their roster for the rest of this season to avoid the 2027 salary cap implosion for all of Johnson’s cap debt coming to roost all at once. That’s a pretty rare measure — which is the kind you need to take when you fly as close to the sun for as long as Philadelphia has from an aggressive cap strategy.
They will, ultimately, need to pay the bill. Most teams across the league strip some players, don’t spend for a season, and call it a day. The Miami Dolphins in 2026 when wholesale and stripped just about everything they could from their prior roster. Philadelphia? This process is going to be a little bit more complicated.
As evidenced by the decision to keep a retired man on their active roster for the next eight months.
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