With the calendar flipping over to April, the 2026 NFL draft is just a few weeks away. The Philadelphia Eagles have nine total picks and can supplement the roster with some young talent to, hopefully, position them to challenge for another Super Bowl title next season.
Although it's an exciting time for fans, several players could see their replacements walk into the building before September. In fact, there's a good chance that happens to right tackle Lane Johnson.
Johnson is entering his 13th season with the team. The Oklahoma product has been a standout professional for this team, but with age and injury concerns, the Eagles could draft a tackle early to find their succession plan for Johnson.
Lane Johnson's Eagles Outlook Will Become Clear Soon
Once the 2025 season wrapped up, there were rumblings about whether Johnson would retire or not. Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer revealed on his "unCovering the Birds" podcast that it wasn't clear at first:
"In terms of Lane and his future, here’s what I can say: He’s definitely not sure if he’s coming back or not, is the impression I get. You would think maybe this would make it a little less likely. When you’re looking at retirement, it’s, ‘Can my body do it again? Do I want to do it again? Lane has a very high standard for himself."Jeff McLane, Philadelphia Inquirer
Despite the thought, he decided to come back, but last year was tough.
Johnson missed the final seven regular-season games and the wild-card loss to the San Francisco 49ers due to a Lisfranc injury. Before the injury, the Eagles were 8-2 with him in the lineup, but once he went down, Philadelphia went 3-5.
There's no downplaying how important Johnson is to the team. Yet that doesn't mean that Philadelphia isn't looking down the line. Johnson will be 36 years old when the 2026 season kicks off, and the fact that he thought about retirement has opened that door. You don't know what his decision will be next offseason, and Philadelphia could get ahead of it by selecting a tackle.
As of now, the Eagles have had Top 30 visits with Penn State OT Drew Shelton, Arizona State OL Max Iheanachor, Memphis OT Travis Burke, and Miami OT Markel Bell. With still over three weeks until draft day, there's a good chance that the team adds more tackles to the list. They are making it obvious that they want to get to know this tackle class, and a large part has to do with the uncertainty around Johnson's playing future.
In NFL Network's Lance Zierlein's latest mock draft, the Eagles drafted Clemson OT Blake Miller with the 23rd pick. Meanwhile, in NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah's mock draft 3.0, Philadelphia selected Alabama OT Kadyn Proctor. In addition, ESPN's Field Yates had the Eagles nabbing Iowa OL Gennings Dunker with the 54th overall pick.
Of course, these are just predictions, but based on how the wind is blowing, it looks like the Eagles are looking at tackle prospects. And depending on the player they bring in, it will give fans a good idea of the team's thought process regarding Johnson's future.