The Eagles announced a six-year contract extension for tackle Lane Johnson on Friday and initial reports peg the deal as being worth up to $63 million with $35.5 million guaranteed.
A further perusal of the contract will uncover how full those guarantees are, but it’s a pretty good chunk of change for a right tackle under any circumstances. That leads to thoughts about Johnson flipping over to the other side of the line, which is something he did when Jason Peters was out with injuries in 2015.
At a press conference on Friday, Johnson said he expects to wind up on the left side at some point during the life of the deal but that Peters is still the right man for the job in the short term.
“I think moving forward that’s what they drafted me for,” Johnson said. “Honestly, Jason Peters is probably the best tackle of all time, one of them, him and Walter Jones in my opinion. Having him here, he’s taught me so much and Im just going to continue to do that until that time comes. We have a good relationship. Jason’s my friend. He knows what the deal is, but whenever he’s healthy I still think he’s probably the best tackle in the league. Moving forward, all those decisions will be made but for right now I think he’s good where he’s at.”
Coach Doug Pederson said that he wants Peters back at left tackle next season. He carries a cap hit of just over $9.7 million for 2016 and it goes up in the final two years of the deal along with the amount of money the Eagles would save by parting ways with him.