Eagles news: Roseman explains Jurgens trade; Hurts, teammates react to O-line changes; Birds drop long injury list

The Eagles aren't selling, Howie Roseman said Wednesday, and the retirement of Lane Johnson and the day-after trade of Cam Jurgens belong in "separate buckets," according to the general manager.

"I think nothing has changed in terms of our goals," Roseman said. "We’re trying to win this year. I think from my perspective, just looking at what is the ultimate goal, which is to win the last game of the year and then to have a run like we’ve had.

"You want to have an extended run. My job is to look at how we can have sustained success for a long period of time. You don’t get many opportunities to get second-round picks in trades and get flexibility."

Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said he wasn't necessarily looking to trade Cam Jurgens, but it got to a point where making a deal with the Ravens became a "win-win."

"Obviously the Ravens have been looking for a center," Roseman said on Wednesday afternoon. "They lost three centers. I speak to [Ravens GM Eric DeCosta] a lot. Originally I kind of told him it wasn’t anything we were looking to do. Over the last 24 hours it got to the point where we felt like it could be win-win.

"For them, obviously getting a player who had been a two-time Pro Bowl center for us. And for us being able to get the picks we were able to get and use that money, also, to sign players."

On First Take Wednesday, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith made light of Lane Johnson's mental health issues and suggested his early retirement was really due to the team's recent struggles.

"You walk away because it's a very, very, very, very bad situation, and it doesn't look to be getting any better," Smith said. "And this brother said, 'Hey, my life matters. It's time. I'm going to call it's quits. My mental health. My mental.' "

Smith attempted to backtrack a bit following light pushback from guest Kimberley A. Martin and Chris "Mad Dog" Russo, but his lack of an apology for mocking the seriousness of Johnson's issues drew a strong rebuke from the sports media world.

Former Eagles president Joe Banner wasn't shy about the Baltimore Ravens' decision to trade for Eagles offensive lineman Cam Jurgens.

"This is an awful trade by Ravens," Banner wrote on social media Wednesday. "Back injury and has played terrible for two years including at center. Shocking trade."

The Ravens, decimated themselves by injuries at center, praised the addition of Jurgens.

The decision to deal Cam Jurgens to the Baltimore Ravens doesn't help the Eagles in the short term, but it signifies their belief in Drew Kendall at center moving forward.

The move to trade Jurgens is surprising, considering the injuries and Lane Johnson’s retirement.

Come on down, young O-linemen (Willie Lampkin, Micah Morris).

The Eagles are trading Cam Jurgens and a 2027 seventh-round pick to the Baltimore Ravens in exchange for a 2027 fifth-round pick and a 2028 second-rounder, the team announced on Wednesday.

Prior to 2026, Jurgens, 27, spent two seasons as the Eagles’ starter at center (2024-25) and one season as the starter at right guard (2023). Jurgens started the first game of the 2026 season at center, but moved to left guard in Week 2 against the Tennessee Titans in the absence of the injured Landon Dickerson.

With Jurgens at left guard, the Eagles turned to Drew Kendall, the 2025 fifth-round pick out of Boston College, to take over at center. Kendall acquitted himself well in three games at center, while Jurgens struggled at left guard, casting uncertainty about his future role when Dickerson returns to the lineup.

Nick Sirianni gave a vote of confidence to Lane Johnson’s immediate replacement Wednesday. He also left no doubt that Markel Bell will be the starter at right tackle on Sunday in London.

That may have been obvious, but the Eagles do still have Fred Johnson on the roster, though he’s been dealing with a knee injury.

Bell, a rookie third-round pick out of Miami, made his first NFL start in Week 4. The 6-foot-9, 346-pound tackle had some good moments but also struggled at times. He was charged with a team-high six pressures and three sacks allowed Sunday vs. the Rams.

The practice week began Wednesday for the Eagles under different circumstances following Lane Johnson’s retirement on Tuesday.

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni typically starts the practice week with a morning meeting.

This week’s message: “We went over today the things that we need to do to win this football game,” Sirianni said.

While most of the NFL media world had nothing but praise for Lane Johnson following Tuesday's surprise retirement, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith appeared to mock the retiring Eagles great over his mental health claims.

Speaking on First Take Wednesday, Smith suggested what really forced Johnson to retire was the terrible start of the Eagles, who are 2-2, lack an offensive identity, and are dealing with a long list of injuries.

"And now, the brother sat up there – one of the all-time greats on the offensive line – and what did he do? He went like this, 'You know what? I'm going to call it quits,'" Smith said. "Four games in to the 2026 season, a dude that has been in the league forever, sits back and says, 'I need to focus on my mental health.'"

In March 2025, Lane Johnson signed a one-year, $25 million contract extension that would've kept him on the Eagles' roster through the 2027 season. The deal included $30 million in guaranteed money.

So what impact will Johnson's sudden retirement have on the Eagles' salary cap?

Timing is everything, since we don't know when Johnson's retirement will be official. But according to Spotrac, the most likely outcome is the Eagles will take a full $20.3 million cap hit this season and $25.5 million next season. That's assuming the Eagles are able to recoup a prorated portion of his $18.7 million option bonus, which was exercised last month.

Speaking on 94.1 WIP Tuesday afternoon, Eagles offensive lineman Jordan Mailata was still "shocked" by the surprise retirement of his teammate, Lane Johnson.

"Yeah, still a hard one to swallow to be honest," Mailata told WIP afternoon hosts Spike Eskin and Ike Reese. "I'm still processing my emotions... I just think about how much I'm going to miss him moving forward."

While Mailata declined to speak much about Johnson's decision to leave the team, he did have some advice for his apparent replacement, rookie Markel Bell, who the Eagles drafted this year in the third round out of Miami.

The Eagles lost against the Los Angeles Rams for many reasons, but their record without Lane Johnson since he was drafted fell to 18-30 (.375). Their overall success since 2013 can be attributed to many, but a record of 122-63-1 (.659) when he’s in the lineup can’t be overstated.

Rookie Markel Bell has potential, but he wasn’t drafted until the third round for a reason. The hope was that the 6-foot-9, 346-pound tackle would get a year to develop under Johnson. But the Eagles did too much wishing and hoping when it came to their offensive line.

They’ve known for years that Johnson could retire at any moment. They knew Landon Dickerson thought about retirement himself this offseason after years of injury and is now on injured reserve. They knew that center Cam Jurgens, after returning too soon from back surgery last season, had lost confidence.

Lane Johnson had thought about retiring along with Jeff Stoutland.

The plan was that they’d “go out together,” something they had “talked about before last season,” a source familiar with Johnson’s thinking told The Inquirer.

The Hall of Fame-bound right tackle was initially devastated when Stoutland walked away from the Eagles in February, a move that was precipitated by the organization’s decision to change its offense and strip the longtime offensive line coach of his run game coordinator role.