October 07, 2026
Bill Streicher/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Lane Johnson was the longest-tenured Eagle before he announced his retirement this week.
Lane Johnson called it a career four games into his 14th season, and after what was easily one of the most accomplished and beloved runs in both Eagles and Philadelphia sports history.
Before Johnson's shocking announcement late Tuesday afternoon, the all-time right tackle was carrying the mantle as the longest-tenured Eagle, along with the standing as one of the longest-tenured athletes in the city.
But his retirement shakes up that picture now.
Here's a rundown of the new list of the 10 longest-tenured athletes in Philadelphia – between the Eagles, Flyers, Phillies, and Sixers – after Johnson's decision to hang up the cleats...
From the 18-year-old rookie that Philadelphia instantly fell in love with after he shut down Evgeni Malkin in the playoffs, to an on-the-rise Selke candidate and then, finally, a Selke Trophy winner, to having his career in serious doubt from a series of back issues, only to make it back to eventually become the Flyers' current captain for a new generation.
Couturier has been through a lot, seen a lot, and has, by far, the longest stay in Philadelphia of any current professional athlete.
The first true, and homegrown, face of the Phillies' post-Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, and Ryan Howard era, Nola endured every bit of a long rebuild to enjoy a sustained run of playoff appearances through the last five years, where he was always a key part of the starting rotation.
The Phillies are at a fork in the road now after they lost to the Braves in this year's Wild Card round, leaving them to face the reality that they're no longer good enough to win the World Series, as they are. But wherever they go, and however they try to reinvent themselves next, Nola is likely to remain a part of the picture, with four years still remaining on his contract.
Embiid has been through a rollercoaster of a decade-plus himself, through the Process, through repeated injury, through some unreal scoring efforts, and of course through many playoff failings.
But he's still here through all of it, and might have his best shot – and maybe his last – to win a championship with the Sixers now that LeBron James is here.
Another constant for the Flyers through probably their most turbulent decade, Konecny has always been a fiery winger who developed into a team leader, and is now kept around as one of the key veterans tasked with guiding this current era of the organization forward.
Elliott joined the Eagles off of Cincinnati's practice squad a decade ago, and immediately stepped in to make some of the biggest kicks in the franchise's history.
He's tapered off in the past couple of years, but he's still an Eagle, and one of the very few who has been around for both of the team's Super Bowl titles.
And now that Johnson is retired, it's Elliott's torch to carry as the Eagles' longest-tenured player.
It took years, but after opening a lot of eyes skating for Canada in the 4 Nations Face Off in 2025 and then in the Winter Olympics in 2026, Sanheim has gotten his respect as a top-pairing defenseman capable of eating up 25 or more of the Flyers' toughest minutes every night, even if it doesn't necessarily grade him out as a truly elite No. 1 defenseman.
Sanheim has come a long way, though – much further than most really expected of him – and to a point now where the Flyers' defense does depend heavily on him.
Drafted as Zach Ertz's eventual successor, Goedert developed into a highly dependable tight end through the Eagles' retool back to two Super Bowl appearances in 2022 and 2024, which all culminated with that Super Bowl LIX thrashing of the Chiefs for the latter one.
That title and parade down Broad Street was originally thought to be Goedert's farewell tour, but he's been brought back for the past two years now, holding down a tight end position for the Eagles that doesn't have a clear future after him.
Maybe the Eagles' greatest development breakthrough ever, Mailata was taken in that same 2018 draft as Goedert, but as a seventh-rounder and a rugby player from Australia who only had his hulking size and freak athleticism to apply over to American football.
Mailata wouldn't see the field for another two years, but by 2022, he had broken out into a full-time starter and a suddenly dominating left tackle, which helped build the platform for the Eagles' run to Super Bowl LVII in 2022 and then that Super Bowl LIX win in 2024.
Now he's the new elder statesman of the Eagles' offensive line.
It seems like forever ago now, but Realmuto's arrival via a February 2019 trade from the Marlins was one of the key moves that set the stage for a massive overhaul that would lead into this current era of the Phillies.
And for a long time, he was everything Philadelphia could want out of a catcher. He called a sharp game and had a cannon of an arm that could snipe down base stealers. He could hit, and on the base paths, he had some shocking speed, too, which was no better exhibited than with that inside the park home run during the 2022 playoffs.
He was the best catcher in baseball, and for years, it was inarguable.
The problem is that time has passed. He's declined, but because of a re-signing this past year, he's likely not going anywhere.
Harper's signing ahead of the 2019 season was the move that transformed the Phillies and put them on the path toward five consecutive postseason appearances starting with that Cinderella run to the NL pennant in 2022.
And he's been a star through all of it, but like Realmuto, he's gotten older, the Phillies have gone backwards, and now the whole club is at a crossroads, with Harper standing as the biggest lightning rod for all of the frustrations.
Honorable mention: Zach Ertz's reunion with the Eagles this season does bring him up to 10 years in Philadelphia across two stints, so that point did at least deserve a note.
One more for the curious: Last year's look at the longest-tenured Philly athletes after Brandon Graham's first retirement.
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