Lane Johnson Contemplating Retirement? News, Notes from Eagles Training Camp

We are more than a week into Eagles training camp, and so far the Eagles have given us a lot to talk about, including the "new look" offense, winners and losers, injury updates, and other quotes from the NovaCare complex. #FlyEaglesFly #PhiladelphiaEagles #NFLonX 

Transcript

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Welcome in, folks, to another episode of the Six Ten Podcast. I'm your host, Jay Hollaghan, and finally, we are getting to Philadelphia Eagles training camp. We're going to be talking about some of the news, some of the notes that have been in the last couple of weeks. I've been late to the party on a lot of this stuff. A thousand apologies for that, but we're going to be talking about it here. We're going to be talking about some of the stuff that has been going on in training camp. Who's been, as I have it put here, we'll put it into two categories who are your winners and who so far have been your losers. And listen, training camp anymore, it doesn't tell you the whole story. It's a nice. Guys will through training camp, through their play and training camp, there will be those that win roster spots and their play and training camp will transition into the season. But not always is that the case. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. We obviously have seen like the likes of Moro Ojomo, who had a terrific training camp a couple years ago, and then impressed throughout the regular season, was great last year. And well, in twenty twenty-four, uh, obviously you still had the likes of Milton Williams, who was still there, and obviously Moro Jomo last year, who got to shine in the third defensive tackle role for the Eagles. Now, we've seen Zach Bond, who two years ago had an amazing training camp and turned in to be one of the biggest success stories and really feel-good stories uh in the history of the franchise. And then you have guys who maybe didn't have such a great great training camp. Like years ago, Patrick Robinson. You remember Patrick Robinson, big pick six in the NFC Championship game? How could you forget? He had a horrible training camp. There were people speculating whether he was going to get cut. They traded for Ronald Darby because they said, hey, this guy's not going to cut it as cornerback two on this team, and P Rob turns in a great season for the Eagles. Obviously, he, of course, was remembered upon for having the pick six in the NFC Championship game where it really all came to a head. But before then, his a solid nickel cornerback had filled in nicely when Ronald Darby got hurt, and P Rob went from being a huge question mark in training camp to a big time player for the defense in a reserve type of role. So let's get right into it. We're going to start with some news, some notes here from the last couple weeks. Couple weeks ago, obviously, Jalen Carter signs the four-year $152 million extension. So all the speculation throughout the offseason, throughout the summer, about whether or not the Eagles should sign Carter to a big extension, whether or not they should look to trade a player that could possibly go down as one of the best in his positions at the time that he played. Maybe not ever. I'm not expecting him to be like the next Aaron Donald or anything like that, but could be like your next Fletcher Cox who holds down that defensive tackle position for the next decade and is remembered at one point in time or another as one of the best at his specific position. Now, there were a lot of question marks about the guy's character, and clearly the Eagles felt that they could trust Jalen Carter enough with this type of contract extension that he could turn out to be the type of player that you are willing to give that investment to. Now whether or not it's a four-year deal. Now whether or not the guy lives up to being like the Aaron Donald type player that I think many have speculated him to be, and I think that's way too much pressure to put on him. But if he turns in seasons like he had in 2024, if he continues to produce at that level, I know last year he didn't have the best year, and that's why many people were wondering whether or not they should give him that contract extension. But here's the thing that people overlook. The guy next to him, Jordan Davis, had a big season. Would it be fair to say that Jordan Davis wouldn't have had that big of a season if not for Jalen Carter's 2024, who I think it's fair to say in 2025 was blocked differently, and offenses were scheming to stop number 98 on the Eagles defense. And let's not forget, a couple days ago, Jalen Carter came in at number 21 in the NFL top 100 players. Now, that list, a lot of people can roll their eyes at it. A lot of people tend to wonder who's voting on this stuff. A lot of people obviously have their own opinions about it. But what impressed me the most was not that he was number 29. If you go and watch the segment where then other players, his peers are talking about him, several guys are like, Man, I wish we drafted him in 2023. Man, I was going to our front office and saying, hey, you gotta take this guy if he's available when we pick. I was so mad that the Eagles got him to pair him with Jordan Davis to build on that defensive line that already had a Fletcher Cox and at the time a Josh Sweat and a Hassan Reddick. So when I hear that from other people, it just kind of makes me go, man, the outside perception of this guy, yes, there are a lot of off-the-field issues that we, you know, don't need to get into. Yes, there are things that happen on the field, you know, spitting on Dak Prescott, getting into it with the entire Saint sideline essentially motioning for them to meet him in the locker room after the game. There is all that stuff that you kind of have to take the good with the bad. But here's the thing, people he's an exceptional talent. If he continues at the level that he has been at for the first three years, where he had a great rookie season, had a great really first three months, but then just like the rest of the team, and especially the defense, things went downhill, had an outstanding 2024, looked like he was going to be poised for an even better 2025, could potentially earn some defensive player of the year nods at the end of the season. Unfortunately didn't, but we saw Jordan Davis shine, we saw Jalex Hunt shine on that defensive line, and let's not pretend, okay, he had maybe not the best year, but the Eagles defense, it ultimately did not hurt them. Because it was among one of the best units in the NFL, and was looked at as many as the reason why the Eagles could go back to another Super Bowl if the offense could come together, which we now know didn't happen, of course. Was the play against the 49ers from the defensive side great? Absolutely not. Could Jalen Carter have been a game record in that game? He absolutely could. But we've seen in years past that he has shown that ability. So, in my opinion, I think it's a smart investment for the Eagles to put in that kind of money. Listen, it's not an Albert Hainsworth type contract. It's not seven years. It's four years. If the worst happens, hopefully Howie Roseman will be able to figure out a way to get out of the contract, and we can all sit here and go, man, what could have been? But hopefully that doesn't happen, and he's going to be labeled as one of the greats in Philadelphia Eagles history. Now, some other news. The other day, Lane Johnson hinted that this will most likely be his last season. We kind of already knew this. And from my vantage point, the way that I perceive what the Eagles' current state is at offensive tackle, when you look at what's behind Lane Johnson, there's not really a ton there. Cameron Williams, who was drafted by the Eagles in 2025 in the sixth round out of Texas, not really hearing a ton of pub around him. Holland Pierce, another right tackle for the Eagles, undrafted out of Rutgers last year. Again, not hearing a ton of pub around him. Markel Bell, could this be a situation as the third round pick out of Miami? Could he kind of maybe do what the Eagles did or what they expected to do with Lane Johnson, where he would be the starting left tackle after Jason Peters, and Bell just kind of fits in there, or will Jordan Mylotta maybe move over to right tackle and Bell could become the future left tackle? Now they're calling him the future right tackle, so we'll see. Uh as Lane Johnson has been endorsing Markel Bell throughout training camp, we'll see where that kind of takes Bell. Now, Landon Dickerson addressed rumors last week about whether or not he contemplated retirement in the offseason, and Landon Dickerson said to the media, I don't know where you guys got that from. That didn't happen. Now, I kind of tend to think that's kind of BS, and he probably just didn't want that to be put out to the media. I wouldn't expect Landon Dickerson to sit up there and go, Yeah, absolutely, I evaluated things. Now, if he did contemplate retirement, which I think he probably did, because let's face it, the guy has dealt with a lot of injury issues throughout the last couple years, I would have expected him to maybe been like, you know, I evaluated things in the offseason, looked at where my body was at. Ultimately, I made the decision to come back, I got the proper treatment, I talked to a couple players throughout the league how they go about preparing for the season, and here I am. I'm firmly with the expectation of, with the anticipation of playing uh a full career, uh hopefully a long career here in the game of football. I mean, you know, remember, he becomes a free agent in 2029, he's under contract for the next three seasons. Um he is on a three-year, $58 million deal, averaging 19.5 for the next three seasons. He's only 28 right now by the age of 30, and when he becomes a free agent at 31, we'll see if whether or not he will continue with the Eagles or if he will continue playing the game overall. It's a sad development, especially for a guy that so many years ago looked like he was going to be in line to be the next quote-unquote Jason Kelsey for this offensive line as a staple at an offensive line position, or like Lane Johnson, a staple at that position for years to come. Now let's get into some other news and on the injury side of things. So Jonathan Grenard placed on the pupless with the pectoral strain. Not what you want to see out of a guy that you uh obviously signed to a long-term deal, traded for and signed to a long-term deal. And I mean, it goes without saying that you know the Eagles pass rushing room is is expected to get a huge bolst by Grenard, being there a huge boost. Uh, hopefully that will still remain the same as right now. He's on the pup list. Now, Devontae Smith has been dealing with hamstring issues. He's one of several wide receivers that have been dealing with hamstring issues. Maky Lemon has as well. Now, Lemon's been dealing with issues for the last couple months. That's concerning. Britain Covey has also been dealing with hamstring issues as well. But Makai Lemon is the one that makes me go, oh my god, I cannot believe that this is the guy they draft, and he now has all these problems. Now, thankfully, Dontavian Wicks has been holding the Eagles' wide receiver room to a higher standard. A lot of people feel like he could be taking on that AJ Brown role as a downfield threat, and also the answer to the red zone problems for the receiver position that the Eagles have been having last couple years. He can be a weapon for Jalen Hurts. He can hopefully see terrific production with Devontae Smith probably being blanketed on one side of the field, and Wicks and Smith can both open each other up. And hopefully, if healthy, Mikhail Lemon can also have a role in that as well in the receiver room. Now for some winners for the Eagles. I talk about Dontavian Wicks. It's been impressive to start training camp. Um hopefully that is going to continue here as uh we need there to be a wide receiver for this team, and I'm not totally trying to count out I'm not totally trying to count out a guy like m you know Malachi Lemon, but I expect a rookie year to have growing pains. I don't expect him to hit the ground running. That just doesn't happen all the time in the NFL. Wicks and Devontae Smith are going to need to lead the pack for the Eagles receiver room. Now for the offense as a whole, uh taking Sean Mannion's offense and what is expected of it. Now year one for a new offense. Obviously, with the Philadelphia Eagles right now, there's always expectations of Super Bowl. That's the buzz now since 2017. Since they won the Super Bowl in 2017, that's what we go into every year with that expectation. And it's specifically heightened in the last four seasons that have seen four of the most talented rosters that the Eagles have ever put together. But when you're learning a new offense, like the Eagles are, and this isn't just Kellen Moore taking over and giving a different look for the play calling sheet or anything like that, it's we're learning a new offense. There's expectations that there will be growing pains. Now a lot of players have said, and Dontavian Wicks, who was in a similar situation system with the Packers, as Manian was the quarterback coach there, Wicks has said, I did not expect the guys here to take to the offense so quick, so quickly. It looks like from the sound of things that the offense, that the guys are learning the offense well, and hopefully a lot of those Jalen Hurts critics about whether or not he can play under center, whether or not he can go over the middle. Hopefully those will be put to rest when the season starts. So with the Eagles situation that they're at right now, uh with Jonathan Grenard on the pup list, there's obviously a lot of guys around him that we are anticipating the Eagles needing to start to pump up. Now, Grenard, it's been reported, he's most likely going to miss another couple of weeks. That's not what you want to hear. Now for the guys around him, sounds like JLX Hunt has been looking good. We need Nolan Smith to be playing at a high level. Obviously, there were off-the-field problems with him in the offseason. Hopefully, he begins to uh really turn things up on with his play on the field. Abicetti as well. Uh we need to see things out of him too. Jahad Campbell. Now it sounds like Campbell has been seen playing time at edge rusher with Grenard being out, so that means other guys have been given the opportunity to shine at Campbell's position at inside linebacker. One of those guys is Jeremiah Trotter Jr., who was impressive the first week of camp, and now in this week of camp, he has been turning heads again, which is a good sign. Eli Stowers, he started off slow, but now it starts, it's it started to sound like he's starting to show some signs. So that's good to see as well. Now some losers from training camp thus far. Fred Johnson's in a battle for the number three tackle spot with Markel Bell. And from the sounds of it, Bell has been out battling Fred Johnson. So Big Fred, who was a staple as a backup tackle the last two seasons, uh certainly could be seeing that role maybe diminishing. Ty Robinson has not been performing to the level that the Eagles were expecting when they took him on the second or uh rather early in the third day last season. Uh Byron Young has been seeing increasingly playing time. I think he's been turning heads. You know, we talk about Moro O'Jomo who's been turning heads, but Ty Robinson doesn't look like he's filling in to that, like, because if Moro Ojomo goes elsewhere, you need someone to fit behind, like what Milt Williams did behind Davis and Carter. That's what O'Jomo's looking to do. That's what they need someone else to do now and step up into that role, even behind Moro Ojomo. So that way when, or if, as I mentioned a few seconds ago, if Ojomo leaves, someone fills in behind, and Ty Robinson right now just has not looked like that guy. Now, Stowers early on hasn't necessarily shown the type of play that I think a lot of people were expecting, but again, I think things may be starting to turn. Now, the one issue that we're having is the third string quarterback spot, in my opinion, from what we're hearing, is not giving a lot of confidence to Howie Roseman, or shall I say, for Howie Roseman, to make the go-ahead and trade away backup quarterback Tanner McKee while you could get great value for Tanner McKee. That's been the biggest speculation is whether or not he is going to start the season off with the Eagles. And a lot of people talking about where are they going to trade him, what are they going to do? Because he's scheduled to be a free agent at the end of this year. If you want to get something for him, like maybe you could get a fourth-round pick that with a Howie Roseman trade could turn into a day two pick, or it could turn into a player that could hit the ground running for you, a veteran piece. Certainly that's the expectation of a lot of people, and I think that's what we would expect to see out of Howie Roseman. But right now, that just doesn't seem like the case, as Andy Dalton and rookie quarterback Cole Payton have not shown signs that they can take on a backup quarterback role if Tanner McKee does indeed get traded. So there are certainly a lot of uh notes that have come out of Eagles training camp that are both good, both negative, both that need to be uh polished up, as we've talked about, and a lot of injured players that need to get healthy, gotta get Mikhail Lemon back out onto the field because as we're ramping up to start the season, we're about a month away from week one. It's gonna be here before we know it. You need to have your rookie wide receiver as we head into the season with a lot of speculation, with a lot of eyes more than ever on Jalen Hurts on the wide receiver room post AJ Brown. How will things turn out? So, with that, folks, we're gonna wrap it up here. We'll be back on next week for some more training camp stuff. I promise it's not gonna take as long as it did from one Eagles episode to another to talk about training camp. First preseason game, not too far away. So, of course, we'll be putting out episodes in regards to that as well. But thanks everyone for tuning in. We as well will s we'll have some stuff coming out soon. Look around. We got a Penn State football fall camp update coming up soon. We'll have some Sixers and Flyer stuff as well as August rolls through. And of course, as always, we'll be back on with the Phillies before you know it. Thanks everyone for tuning in, and we'll talk to you later.