Eagles Bring Back Valuable Swing Tackle On One-Year Deal

Fred Johnson sat for a very long time on a stool in front of his locker at Lincoln Financial Field following the Eagles’ season-ending playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers. He was downcast. He shook his head several times during a few interviews. The offensive tackle’s future was uncertain.

“You don’t know what’s gonna change, who’s leaving, who’s staying,” he said after that January loss. “You don’t know nothing that’s gonna happen. I don’t know if I’m still gonna be here or who will be here from this team. Teams have one-year shelf lives, and it sucks to go out like this.”

Asked what the offseason looked like for him, he said then, “I have no idea. That’s what I’m really confused about. I don’t want to be nowhere else, but I also wanna be somewhere I can contribute 24/7. That’s where I’m at with that.”

Johnson now knows his future after he agreed to a one-year deal on Tuesday evening to return to the Eagles, a league source confirmed. It’s the first offensive line signing this offseason for the Eagles after watching Brett Toth and Matt Pryor leave in free agency.

Johnson started at right tackle for Lane Johnson, who missed the final seven regular-season games and the playoff game with an ankle injury. Fred Johnson is a valuable swing tackle, something the Eagles needed.

Eagles Still Expected To Address Offensive Line In Draft

Eagles OT Fred Johnson | Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

He filled in for five games that Jordan Mailata missed during the team’s 2024 Super Bowl-winning season.

Johnson tested free agency last year and chose to sign with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Eagles traded for him at the end of training camp, sending a seventh-round pick in this spring’s draft to the Jags.

“I wasn’t trying to be a starter,” he said about the decision to take the Jags’ deal. “I’ve shown from my play I’m a starter in this league. My time in Jacksonville made me a better person. It helped me become who I needed to become.”

Johnson entered the league as an undrafted free agent in 2019 out of the University of Florida. He spent two years with the Cincinnati Bengals. Ultimately, the Eagles signed him to their practice squad on Nov. 8, 2022. He has made 22 starts the past two years and has played in 50 games overall for the Eagles in the last three seasons. Johnson played a career-high in offensive snaps a year ago, with 626 (59 percent)

Signing him doesn’t mean the Eagles won’t look to add more offensive line help when the draft begins.