Eagles GM Howie Roseman pulled off a savage move to draft USC WR Makai Lemon ahead of Steelers
Howie Roseman never sleeps. The Eagles general manager made a bold move in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft, and the Pittsburgh Steelers probably were not happy about it.
The Philadelphia Eagles made one of the most impressive moves in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft. They did not sit back and hope that their guy made it to them at 23 overall.
Instead, Howie Roseman made a jump to go get a new offensive weapon for the team’s passing game under OC Sean Mannion. In the process, he created one of the most intriguing storylines of the first round’s happenings.
Eagles called Makai Lemon while he was on phone with Steelers
According to a report from Ian Rapoport, the Eagles traded up for Makai Lemon while he was on the phone talking to the Steelers. Pittsburgh planned to draft him at 21. The Eagles traded up with the Dallas Cowboys in order to select him with the 20th overall selection.
“The problem here is that Omar Khan sat by and watched Eagles GM Howie Roseman trade up to select WR Makai Lemon, who the Steelers were reportedly high on, which was also a position of need.” — Rob Gregson
Lemon confirmed the situation for him between the phone calls from different teams in his post-draft press conference. Roseman truly jumped the Steelers at the perfect time and shocked even them.
For Lemon, now he will join the Eagles WR room alongside Devonta Smith, A.J. Brown (for now), Dontayvion Wicks, and Hollywood Brown.
Roseman makes another savvy move that surprised the rest of the league in order to land the prospect that Philly wanted the most, given how the board fell ahead of them.
