PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Eagles and right tackle Lane Johnson have agreed to a four-year contract extension that runs through 2025, the team announced Friday.
The new deal is worth $72 million and includes over $54 million in guarantees, a league source tells ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, making Johnson the highest-paid tackle in football.
Johnson, 29, has stated his case for being the best right tackle in the NFL over recent years. The former No. 4 overall pick out of Oklahoma has made the Pro Bowl in each of the last two seasons and was named first-team All Pro in 2017 when the Eagles captured their first-ever Super Bowl title.
His value comes into focus when he is out of the lineup. He played just 24 snaps against the New England Patriots Week 11 after suffering a concussion and missed last week against the Seattle Seahawks as well — both Eagles losses. Johnson has since been cleared from concussion protocol and is expected to play Sunday at the Miami Dolphins.
Similarly, Philadelphia went 2-8 during the games Johnson missed in 2016 as a result of a positive test for performance-enhancing substances, compared to 5-1 when he was in the lineup that season.
The Eagles have been active on the contract extension front. They gave Johnson’s good friend and offensive line mate, right guard Brandon Brooks, a four-year, $56 million extension earlier this month, and have since signed kicker Jake Elliott and long-snapper Rick Lovato to new deals. The team has also been working towards a new deal with tight end Zach Ertz but contract talks have stalled, a source told Fowler.