The Philadelphia Eagles stayed active during the 2026 NFL Draft, trading twice in the first two days, but their first trade made a ton of noise.
Eagles general manager Howie Roseman made a trade with the Dallas Cowboys as they moved up to pick 20 and had to get rid of both of their fourth-round picks to select USC wide receiver Makai Lemon. That means the Eagles won't be making a selection until the fifth round, but Roseman isn't worried about that since they have also traded for veterans like Jonathan Greenard and Dontayvion Wicks.
“You got to put Greenard into this draft, you got to pick (Dontayvion) Wicks into this draft. Those are two guys we traded picks for,” Roseman said via The Athletic's Zach Berman. “Not picking in the fourth round hurts, but when we look at what we’ve done and the players we added, we’ll get through those couple hours and be excited about the guys we have and the opportunity we have tomorrow to add players.”
Howie Roseman is feeling good about not picking early
The reality is that the talent level for the rest of the draft is guys who will be backups and may not play much in 2026. Philly is already solid with their depth, so they feel good about what they have.
Also, Wicks and Greenard are better than most of the talent that is in the draft, so that costs the Eagles Day 2 and 3 picks; those are still good deals. Greenard gives the Eagles their top pass rusher, while Wicks adds size to a wide receiver room that needs it.
Philly had to move up to make sure they got Lemon as the Pittsburgh Steelers were picking at 21 and ready to take him before the Eagles called. The Eagles get their slot receiver, who can replace A.J. Brown, who is likely to be traded in June.
Read more: Eagles' Haason Reddick trade is outright robbery now that it's been finalized
Sure, it'll be a bit boring for the Eagles to start Day 3, but it is well worth the wait.
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