October 11, 2026
Colleen Claggett/for PhillyVoice
Lane Johnson retired, but he's still going to stay on the 53-man roster for a few reasons.
Lane Johnson's surprise retirement won't just have ramifications on the Philadelphia Eagles' on-field product. It also comes with financial and roster considerations.
PhillyVoice has learned that the Eagles plan on keeping Johnson on their 53-man roster this season. By doing so, that leaves open the possibility that Johnson could change his mind and come back to play this season, unlikely as that may be.
Johnson said in August that this season would be his last in the NFL. Assuming that remains the case — or if he remains retired, as expected — the Eagles would then process his retirement after June 1 in 2027, which would delay salary cap ramifications until 2027 and 2028. Or perhaps better stated, Johnson's salary cap situation would remain as is, as if he hadn't retired and instead played out the 2026 season as originally planned.
Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com did a good job of laying out all the financial possibilities regarding Johnson's retirement. Here's the part that discusses keeping Johnson on the roster all season:
While Johnson has announced his retirement there is no reason the Eagles have to process that now. If he is keeping the bonus the team could simply keep him on the roster this year, have a 52 man roster, and then retire him on June 2 of 2027. That would allow the team to keep his cap charges this year intact, take $16.6 million in dead money in 2027, and then take $26.276 million in 2028. This would more or less play out the same as his original contract where he was going to be designated a post June 1 cut in 2027.
Obviously, the downside is that a player who announced that he is done playing football will occupy a spot on the active roster all season.
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