Lane Johnson: The Last Pillar of an Eagles Legacy

Football is a sport of change. It’s so fast, so violent, and so adaptable that there can be few constants within it.

This idea is especially true for the players, who, in the NFL, have an average career of only three years. It is for this reason that we as fans remember the players who last, because it feels like what they are doing defies the very nature of the league itself, because owners and general managers are always looking to infuse their teams with newer and younger players to replace the ones who are getting older and slowing down. Sometimes though, players just refuse to slow down, and continue to prove their worth year in and year out regardless of their age. It is usually pretty rare for a team to have one of these kinds of players on their roster, as not only are they continuing to play at a high level when their bodies aren’t able to take on as much as they used to, but this high level of play combined with the knowledge that their careers will end soon means that they tend to take very short contracts with the highest bidders. Most teams would be lucky to be able to hold on to just one of these players, but over the past 15 years, the Eagles have had four.

These four players are of course Jason Kelce, Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham, and Lane Johnson

To put this all into perspective, since 2010 the Philadelphia Eagles have played exactly zero games without one of these four players on the field. In the NFL a decade and a half is an eternity, so this level of consistency is virtually unheard of. Just think about it for a second. When Brandon Graham first took the field for the Eagles in 2010, starting this streak, Barack Obama was in the second year of his first term, LeBron James had announced only a month prior that he would be leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat, Tom Brady only had three of his eventual seven Super Bowl wins, and Braelon Allen, the youngest active player in the NFL right now, was five years old.

These four have been through everything together: one Super Bowl victory, two Super Bowl appearances, three head coaches (four for all except Johnson, who was drafted the year after Andy Reid was fired), and hundreds of different teammates who came and went throughout the years.

Combined, the four of them, drafted one each year from 2010 to 2013, have 19 Pro Bowl nominations, six All-Pro Second Team selections, and nine All-Pro First Team selections. They not only led with their words in the locker room but with their play on the field.

As of this last offseason, both Jason Kelce and Fletcher Cox have retired. Brandon Graham tore his tricep in the Eagles’ Week 12 matchup against the Rams, officially ending what he already announced would be his final season. That just leaves Lane Johnson.

The reason I wanted to write this was not just to look back on the past and admire what these four have done for this franchise, even though their impact truly cannot be overstated. I wanted to write this so that we as fans can truly appreciate the greatness that we get to see every week while we still can. A time will come when all four of these players are inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame (and at least one of them into the NFL Hall of Fame) but we are still able to watch Lane Johnson carve out that Hall of Fame potential career in real time.

It is hard to quantify the value that a right tackle can bring to a team since there are virtually no counting stats that can be attributed to them, but I really think that it cannot be overstated just how good Johnson is. For proof of this, you need to look no further than the Eagles’ most recent game against the Steelers. Facing arguably the best pass rusher in the league in T.J. Watt, Johnson was unfazed and in control, and even seemed upset when learning that Watt was injured and wouldn’t be returning to the game.

If you’re like me though, and want to see actual numbers and not simply base a player’s skill level on the confidence they exude during a game you can look no further than Pro Football Reference’s Approximate Value (AV). AV is a stat that estimates a player’s seasonal value, regardless of their position. Among all active players in the NFL right now, Johnson is 32nd overall in AV at 96, and seventh among offensive linemen. Additionally, of the six offensive linemen in front of him, only one started their career after him, meaning the other five had more time to accrue more AV.

If AV is a stat that doesn’t impress you, which is fair, what about the fact that, per Pro Football Focus, Johnson ranks first among all offensive linemen in sacks allowed at zero? That is almost hard to comprehend. This season Johnson has played over 800 snaps, and not once has he allowed his defender to get to the quarterback. That is just not something you would expect to see from a 34-year-old, 12-year NFL veteran. The Eagles have regularly been credited with having one of the best offensive lines in all of the NFL year after year, and I don’t think that it’s a coincidence that they receive this praise when Lane Johnson has been a part of that line for over a decade now.

Johnson’s contract currently has him signed through the 2026 season. What he decides to do after that is anyone’s guess, but for the time being, we just need to sit back and be thankful that this man is a Philadelphia Eagle, and will be for life. There will come a day when he will join his friends Jason Kelce, Fletcher Cox, and Brandon Graham in Eagles immortality, but for right now I like him exactly where he is: on the O-line protecting Jalen Hurts every single snap.

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