The Future of The Eagles Just Changed Forever

The future of the Philadelphia Eagles just changed forever. I can't believe this just happened. It's an end of an era. I'm your host Colin Kelly. Welcome to Eagles Digest. In today's video, we're going to react to the stunning news of Lane Johnson's retirement, where the Eagles have to go or where they can go from here, and why this is a major turning point in the franchise's history. You look at Lane Johnson. It's a somber day. It's a sad day in the history of this franchise. The official announcement coming from Lane himself, in conjunction with the team, his playing career has come to an end into his 14th season with the Philadelphia Eagles. An unbelievable career. And for as somber of a mood as it is for this Philadelphia Eagles team, it's also time to celebrate, to recognize absolute greatness, legendary play. You look at a statement put out by one Eagles owner, Jeffrey Lurie. Lane Johnson is an all-time Eagle, one of the best to ever play his position in NFL history. That is undoubted. He was a major contributor to team success over 14 seasons, two Super Bowls, many, many, many memorable moments. I want to say Lane excelled under multiple coaching staffs, maintaining elite level of play throughout his entire career, combination of talent, strength, athleticism, and intelligence made him a truly unique player in this league. There is no doubt he's going to be a Hall of Famer. Lane Johnson needs to be a first ballot Hall of Famer. He just does. P.E.D., none. None of that. He, the longevity, the excellence, it is matched by very few. He is one of the greatest right tackles of all time. In his statement, Lurie also talked about beyond the field accomplishments. Tremendous amount giving back to the community, an advocate showing his strength in terms of mental health. Going on to say he saved lives, undoubtedly saved lives. Lane Johnson, he's a franchise icon. The blend of the on-field talent and the leadership both on and off the field. There will never be another Lane Johnson. There is no replacing Lane Johnson in the here and now, in the future. You look at his career, two-time Super Bowl champion, six-time Pro Bowler, five-time All-Pro. I hope you didn't take his play for granted. I didn't, although maybe at times it's easy to lose sight, especially as an offensive lineman. Not gonna get all the accolades, but he has meant so much to this team, to this city. Lane Johnson, we love you, and we hope you and your family, all the best, wish you all the best. Jeff McLean, a little bit of context. Lane Johnson, he notably in the preseason and the offseason talked about this being his last season, but even apparently dating back to truly this offseason, according to Jeff McLean, he had contemplated retiring to start a camp, a brief sabbatical, convinced to return, was able to get some of his concerns about his parents off his chest at his first news conference in terms of Lane Johnson starting camp, four games, ultimately decided to retire. He's an all-time, truly all-time Philadelphia Eagle, all-time great in the national football league. Mike Garofalo, a little bit more context. Lane Johnson, advocate for mental health over the course of his career. In Lane Johnson's statement directly, deeply wanted to gut it out for one more year. Part of the consideration when he stepped away, as noted with McLean's tweet, stepped away for a bit during camp. Lane Johnson says after missing this past game, right now it is critical that I focus on my mental health. All the power to you, Lane. Not that you owe anyone anything. You have to take care of what's important. Things are frankly bigger than sports, bigger than football. And we will forever remember you, hold you in the highest, highest of opinions, of views as Eagles' icons. I can't come up with better words. You look at your favorite memory for Lane Johnson, I think for me there's an easy one. You look at the dog mask, the legendary, in terms of a moment, one of the most fond memories you could ever have as a fan, following that opening playoff game versus the Atlanta Falcons, you know, Chris Long, also kind of the face of this hungry dogs run faster mentality. The underdog. When the Eagles lost their franchise quarterback at the time, Carson Wentz, where they were on track to be one of the runaway, if not the runaway favorite. Just performing to such a high level. And then, oh my gosh, a gut punch. Where does the Eagles team go from here? Will they get into the playoffs? Top seed they were able to host all throughout leading up to the Super Bowl. And Lane Johnson just epitomized this team, their mentality, underdogs, maybe viewed in terms of externally and outside the organization, but not internally. But boy, was it only motivation and fuel. Just, you will not find, I'm not sure we ever will over the course of my lifetime, your lifetime, more of a rallying, more of a unifying moment in the Eagles history. Where you thought, oh my gosh, maybe we can do something. Maybe we got it. By the skin of their teeth, they get past the Falcons and then look what happened from there on out. Just such a special, special moment. And when I think about why this is such a momentous time in Eagles history, it truly is an end of an era. You look at BG, Fletch, Kelsey, and now Lane Johnson are all retired. You think about arguably the best era in team history. Objectively, when you look at Lane Johnson's career, those two Super Bowls, three total appearances, it's incredible. And to think there's really no one really left from that era. Of course, it's incredible. Zach Ertz actually just coming back to the organization. But all in all, it just all of a sudden now feels really different. It feels different. It just does. Do you guys agree with that? Let me know in the comments down below. It's hard to even really think about where we go in the immediate term. You can't help but really think ahead beyond the end of the season to next season and beyond. You look at what I think is really next. But before we actually jump ahead to what's next, actually, we have to talk about how this was even possible that Lane Johnson became a Philadelphia Eagle. I think it's a where were you type of moment for me. The 2013 NFL draft where Chip Kelly actually is taking over running the show really. Philadelphia Eagles will forever be grateful to the Miami Dolphins at third overall via a trade. They select Deion Jordan, the edge rusher out of Oregon who Chip Kelly coached. At the time, I remember in grade school, it was all Deion Jordan. He's the really cool player. The defensive end is going to get all these sacks. He's going to transcend the defense. Lane Johnson, also the Philadelphia Eagles at fourth overall, who ends up going down as the pick of that draft, the pick of arguably Eagles history in terms of first rounders. In what ended up being, in retrospect, one of the worst NFL drafts of all time when you go down the list of this first round, even the top 10, even the top five. You'd think the Eagles got Lane Johnson. It was, I remember, it was grade school. It was the middle school play. We were just waiting around. And on that Thursday, in the multipurpose room, and all of a sudden, we end up getting the teacher to put on the projector, the NFL draft. It's, oh, my God, before we're ready to go. No, hold on, hold on, hold on. We got to see the Eagles pick. No audio, but we just see it pop up. Lane Johnson, offensive tackle, Oklahoma. It's the office quote, office watchers out there, wish there was a way, Andy Bernard, wish there was a way to know we were in the good times while they were going on. But as far as where we do go from here, it's, expectively now, it's Jordan Mailata's offensive line. It is Jordan Mailata's offensive line. The franchise protector, the blindside protector for one, Jalen Hurts. You look at moving forward. What is Sean Mannion? How is he going to account for this loss of Lane Johnson? How is he going to try to find a rhythm for this Eagles offense? That's just in a really tough spot, holistically, with injuries as well, all over the field. The bottom line, the inevitability, we saw it this past week. It is Markell Bell's time now. The early third round pick from this most recent 2026 NFL draft. He was launched into his first start abruptly with the Lane Johnson in active news on this past Sunday, week four, versus the LA Rams. It was really a mixed bag with Markell Bell. Maybe a little bit more plays you'd want back in terms of compared to, look, he is a road grader in the run game, but the pass protection, how Lane Johnson was such a freak athlete was just on an island over decades in this NFL, this grueling league. The pass protection is what Eagles are going to be concerned about, Eagles coaches, Eagles players, in terms of trying to find some type of solution moving forward. But guys, I want to hear from you any Lane Johnson memories, favorite moments. As we round this out, simple question, is Lane Johnson on your Mount Rushmore, or your Eagles Mount Rushmore? So top four, in other words. And for me, he absolutely unequivocally is, at least in terms of you think about who I've been able to watch, you think about the modern era, modern, so to speak, this century. It's Lane Johnson. It's Jason Kelsey. It's Fletcher Cox. And it's Brian Dawkins for me. Do you guys have a different combo? Let me know down below. We are all just grateful to have been able to witness the career of Lane Johnson. We wish him, again, nothing but the best, him and his family. Guys, have a great one. I'll see you in the next one. Go Birds!