One goal coming out of this 2026 NFL Draft for the Philadelphia Eagles was to make sure they found a wide receiver who could replace A.J. Brown, and they accomplished that with USC's Makai Lemon.
The Eagles had to strike a deal with the Dallas Cowboys to move up from pick 23 to pick 20 to get it done, while getting rid of both of their fourth-round picks to do so. Eagles general manager Howie Roseman shared with the media why he decided to move up.
"We just felt like this was a player that we wanted to go up and get just based on where our board was at that time," Roseman said via The Athletic's Zach Berman. "Just felt like it made a lot of sense based on our board. And obviously, when you have a player that you like, that's ranked higher on your board than what you're picking, you think at every pick he's going to be selected."
Eagles made sure to get their guy in Makai Lemon
It ended up being a good thing for the Eagles to move up to 20 as the next pick at 21 with the Pittsburgh Steelers were on the phone with Lemon when Philly was trying to call him. Thankfully, Lemon eventually picked up and connected with the Eagles to hear the great news of his selection.
This was a classic case of Roseman taking a value pick on Lemon, who was a top-15 prospect according to most prominent draft experts. Philly got lucky to see him drop to the edge of the top 20 after winning the Fred Biletnikoff Award last year as the nation's best receiver with over 1,100 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Read more: Howie Roseman (again) is crystal clear on A.J. Brown's status with Eagles
Now the Eagles can focus on making sure they get a trade done with Brown in June, so they can move forward on the future of the franchise with Lemon at receiver.
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