I like Big Fred, glad he's back. I think there's two inportant messages this signing gives.

1 - The Eagles don't think Cameron Williams, Myles Hinton, of Hollin Pierce are ready for prime time

2 - Howie doesn't think any of the tackles he likes as potential replacement for Lame ar within reach. My logic is that is that guy were gettable, he would be the swing tackle this year.

37 minutes ago, Rob331 said:

2 - Howie doesn't think any of the tackles he likes as potential replacement for Lame ar within reach. My logic is that is that guy were gettable, he would be the swing tackle this year.

Lame because he missed 7 games last year?

It's a good insurance, I don't think there's much more to read there.

I didn't see the contract, but would imagine it's a fairly cheap deal. He's a good backup to keep around. People that think competition is bad for the developmental guys, just don't understand how things work.

5 hours ago, brkmsn said:

I didn't see the contract, but would imagine it's a fairly cheap deal. He's a good backup to keep around. People that think competition is bad for the developmental guys, just don't understand how things work.

Please explain how you think things work.

It's March. We have 3 rookie tackle holdovers, 2 veterans lost to FA and 1 that didn't attract much attention (FJ).

So, where do we go from here, both this season and beyond?

I'll listen.

On 3/25/2026 at 12:33 PM, Rob331 said:

I like Big Fred, glad he's back. I think there's two inportant messages this signing gives.

1 - The Eagles don't think Cameron Williams, Myles Hinton, of Hollin Pierce are ready for prime time

2 - Howie doesn't think any of the tackles he likes as potential replacement for Lame ar within reach. My logic is that is that guy were gettable, he would be the swing tackle this year.

We’re definitely drafting a tackle very high so it will be difficult to keep any of those guys you mentioned. They’ll either be practice squad or put on IR with some "obscure” injury.

2 hours ago, Road to Victory said:

We’re definitely drafting a tackle very high so it will be difficult to keep any of those guys you mentioned. They’ll either be practice squad or put on IR with some "obscure” injury.

Yeah - those guys are auditioning to be the Fred Johnson of the future.

17 hours ago, Crazy Legs said:

Please explain how you think things work.

It's March. We have 3 rookie tackle holdovers, 2 veterans lost to FA and 1 that didn't attract much attention (FJ).

So, where do we go from here, both this season and beyond?

I'll listen.

It was 3 years before Mailata stepped on to the field in a real game. He showed plenty of potential in his rookie preseason. We still brought back Peters in 2019 and again in 2020 despite Mailata's potential. We also drafted Dillard in 2019 to be the future LT. Mailata was the ultimate beneficiary from the competition at LT. It took waiting until his 3rd year and a lot of injuries for him to get his initial chance, but when he did, he never looked back. That's a summary of how things work. Ultimately, you keep adding competition and make sure developing players have to earn their playing time by outplaying everybody else in the room. If the room is full of inexperienced camp bodies, the bar needed to achieve playing time is much lower. When you add a guy like Fred Johnson that has been through that very process and is still hungry and competing for playing time, you raise that bar and also give less experienced prospects an example to learn from.

Since we are at the point of the year where you add 40 extra players to compete for roster spots, we know there will be some players brought in that won't make the final roster. Again, that promotes competition. We have no way of knowing who will deal with injuries or will manage to avoid them in the future. So you plan for both. The plan is Lane is the starter this year and he's one of the best in the NFL. He's also signed for another year (I believe he will return for 2027). But at the very least, we know he's here for this season. We could draft another OT or two this year. We may do it next year. But everybody will still have to compete to move up the depth chart.

Re-signing Fred Johnson does not mean Williams, Hinton and Pierce are all somehow disappointing and not living up to expectations. Williams and Hinton made the final roster and Pierce managed to stay on the PS for most of the season. Considering most people argued the Eagles were one of the most talented rosters, that is an accomplishment. What it does show is the Eagles really like Fred Johnson. Heck, after he left in free agency after the Super Bowl, we used a late round pick in a trade to bring him back. He's valuable to this team.

Good.