Philadelphia Eagles talk: Lane Johnson’s earning his money in 2018

Lane Johnson’s not getting any free rides during the Philadelphia Eagles’ 2018 regular season campaign.

Before you read one more word of this story, let’s get something straight. Philadelphia Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson worked his behind off after being suspended in 2016 to put together a fine campaign in 2017. That chapter of his life is over.

Some of you are probably wondering why anyone would bring that up. The answer is simple. It wasn’t done to bring back old memories or to appear as though anyone’s dwelling on past mistakes. It’s simply to bring up another fact that we’ve all stated often.

The Eagles are a better team with Lane Johnson. They win when he’s on the field. They, more often than not, have lost when he hasn’t been.

The big guy will be counted on again in 2018.

As we’ve stated, if you’re an Eagles fan, nothing you’ve just read can be referred to as ‘news’. Johnson, once believed to be the heir apparent to left tackle and future Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Jason Peters, still sits on the other end of the offensive line. Then, you have to take into account the fact that Eagles have stocked their shelves well, especially along the offensive front.

Guys like Halapoulivaati Vaitai are developing well, and the prospect of Johnson moving to left tackle isn’t as foregone a conclusion as we once thought.

That’s perfectly fine if that’s the case. Philly would just have to endure the pain of going through life with the best right tackle in football. They’ll definitely need him this year. Sitting on the right side of the line means Johnson will have to face the best pass rushers week in and week out.

Just take a look at some of the guys he’s slated to meet or renew acquaintances with in 2018:

It doesn’t quite inspire jealousy now, does it?

It’s time to go to work.

2018 will be Johnson’s sixth in the NFL. Philly proved long ago that they wanted him to be a part of bringing a championship-winning culture to ‘The City of Brotherly Love’ when they drafted him fourth overall in 2013’s draft. They furthered that point when they gave him a six-year, $63 million extension on January 29th of 2016 ($35.5 million of that is guaranteed).

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Johnson is worth every penny, but you can argue 2018’s season may be his biggest test yet. Every dime of the $2.4 million he’ll receive in 2018 will be well earned. It appears we’ll have much to discuss every time he takes the field.

Truthfully, we can’t wait to be honest with you.