Bigs Back

There was likely a collective sigh of relief across the Delaware Valley and beyond late Thursday morning, as news broke that significantly impacts the Eagles in 2026.

Lane Johnson, the Eagles’ future Hall of Fame right tackle, informed Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer that he will be returning for a 14th season.

A Lisfranc sprain in his right foot suffered in the Eagles’ 16-9 win over the Detroit Lions limited Johnson to 10 starts last season, but the 35-year-old proved he’s still very much at the height of his game. While veteran Fred Johnson ably navigated the nine games in Johnson’s absence that followed, the Eagles sorely missed their stalwart right tackle.

Also, Derrick Gunn – host of “Birds Weekly” on Inside The Birds – reported that left guard Landon Dickerson is also returning despite Dickerson’s frustrations about his overall health. The three-time Pro Bowler, who had ankle and knee procedures done in college, underwent two separate knee surgeries following the team’s Super Bowl win last February and his play in 2025 declined as he never appeared healthy.

Attempting to envision the Eagles’ future without Lane Johnson would have been difficult to fathom, especially given the way the injury deprived him of the second half of the season. Johnson’s tireless training methods have been well-documented, and by returning he now affords himself the opportunity to leave the game on his own terms.

Johnson’s impact on the Eagles’ sustained success can’t be overstated. The team sports a 15-28 record (playoffs included) when he isn’t in the lineup since 2016 and 96-41-1 (playoffs included) when he is. His athleticism, technical prowess and consistency has placed him in rarified air, and in 2025 — albeit briefly — Johnson demonstrated he hasn’t lost his fastball.

The Eagles getting LG Landon Dickerson (69) and RT Lane Johnson back for 2026 is a major development.

“Obviously, you’re talking about a Hall of Fame player who’s been a huge, huge part of any of our success that we’ve had, and when you watch him play, he’s still playing at an elite level,” said Eagles executive vice president/general manager Howie Roseman at the team’s season-ending press conference.

Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni, following the team’s Week 3 win over the Rams, referred to Johnson as the “best player I‘ve ever been around” and “one of the best players in the NFL.”

In reference to the latter: He’s not wrong.

Needless to say, with so many questions looming over an expectedly new Eagles offense under first-year coordinator Sean Mannion, keeping Johnson and Dickerson in the fold to be a part of the winds of change gusting through the Jefferson Health Training Complex checks off a major box atop the list of uncertainties.

Keeping with the theme of change, this will also be the first season in which both linemen won’t be part of a room led by iconic position coach Jeff Stoutland, a bedrock to their success. New OL coach Chris Kuper has been hired as Stoutland’s replacement.

While the schematics and techniques implemented under the new staff will reveal itself in time, Johnson’s presence provides stability  — and certainty – to a room last season hindered by injuries.

Selected with the fourth overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, Johnson has appeared in 168 games (168 starts) for the Eagles over 13 seasons. Over that span, Johnson became a six-time Pro Bowler, five-time All-Pro and two-time Super Bowl champion, becoming part of a legacy of an offensive line that also included a pair of surefire Hall of Famers in center Jason Kelce and left tackle Jason Peters under Stoutland’s watch.

It’s hardly hyperbole to describe Johnson as one of the game’s all-time greats who has exhibited no signs of a performance drop, but he should also be regarded as a culture-setter, an intangible that carries relevance as the team is set to embark on new terrain.

— Andrew DiCecco (@AndrewDiCecco) is a Staff Reporter/Content Producer for InsideTheBirds.com