Regularly structuring contracts to include void years and option bonuses for cap purposes, the Eagles have recently processed retirements as post-June 1 cuts to defray costs over a two-year period. That was the case with Jason Kelce and Fletcher Cox in 2024, and Lane Johnson’s retirement is heading in that direction too.
Johnson will be positioned to remain an Eagle in 2026, albeit one with no intention of playing any longer. Philadelphia is planning to keep Johnson on its 53-man roster, according to The Athletic’s Zach Berman. The Eagles declared Johnson a gameday inactive in Week 5; that looks set to be the case for the team’s final 12 contests.
Because the Eagles structure contracts with option bonuses and void years, base salaries for veterans are regularly at the veteran-minimum level. This is the case with Johnson, whose one-year, $25MM extension runs through 2027 but carries six void years. Similar to the A.J. Brown situation this offseason, the Eagles are planning to wait on officially separating with Johnson until after the pivotal June 1 date.
Processing Johnson’s retirement as a post-June 1 cut next year will allow the Eagles to divide his $42.89MM dead cap hit between 2027 and 2028. This will still be a hefty dead money sum, but the Eagles are quite accustomed to operating like this.
Their 2026 payroll features 28 players counting as dead money, totaling more than $81MM (per OverTheCap). Johnson’s dead money sum will — if this plan holds through June — likely see the larger hit come in 2028. The cap spiking by more than $20MM annually has helped teams pull off these types of strategies, and the Eagles will keep pushing money into the future.
Of course, this decision does effectively mean the Eagles will play with a 52-man roster this season. Teams are allowed two gameday elevations each week, and those will be a bit more important for Philly than they are for most other teams this year. The chance Johnson comes out of retirement appears slim, but Berman adds the 14-year veteran staying on the roster opens the door to a return later in the season. Of course, the Eagles already acknowledged Johnson’s retirement and thanked him for his stellar run as their right tackle.
Johnson, 36, cited mental health as the main reason for his retirement. While he technically could reemerge from retirement like Brandon Graham after a sabbatical of sorts, that is certainly not expected to happen. The Eagles, who also traded Cam Jurgens to the Ravens in a deal bringing back a second-round pick, turned to rookie Markel Bell at right tackle for a second straight week.