When Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman is cooking, he is certainly in the zone, and no one can stop him from doing his job well.
Roseman got universal praise for his work with the Eagles during the 2026 NFL Draft, including trading up from pick 23 to pick 20 with the Dallas Cowboys to select USC wide receiver Makai Lemon. The Eagles' general manager spoke with Adam Schein on Mad Dog Sports Radio about what went into that trade-up and how they got Lemon.
"If we're being totally transparent, it wasn't like we were just trying to get to 20. We were trying to get ahead of that pick as well because when you feel really strongly about a player, you think at every pick he is going and so you have this heartbeat going through when you hear the pick is in and you got to look. We get it about a couple of seconds before on our computer screen, and you get it, and a lot of times I'm veering over Jeffrey (Lurie) because I don't put it on my computer. I let him have it on his computer next to me, and I'm veering over his shoulder, trying to figure out who's going. So, to say that we were willing to sit there and just get ahead of Pittsburgh, it wouldn't be true. We were trying to get up and trying to get the player, and so happened that we got in front of them certainly they were one of the teams that we thought would be in the mix, but more importantly for us than who anyone else wants, it's who we want and who we want to go get, and we wanted to go get the player."
Howie Roseman opens up about how trade to get Makai Lemon got done
Roseman has the magic touch for knowing when to make a trade, what kind of compensation to give up, and who to select. His talent for finding the right talent has been on full display over the last five years for the Eagles.
Lemon is someone who can instantly step in as a starter for the Eagles, as the goal was to find a replacement for A.J. Brown, who is more than likely getting traded after June 1. Even though he is going to be in the slot, there are big expectations for the kind of playmaker Lemon could be in this new-look offense.
A selection like this, though, can only be done by Roseman. This is the third time since 2023 he has traded up in the draft, as he did for Jalen Carter and Jihaad Campbell. If Eagles included 2021, he did the same thing for DeVonta Smith (also with the Cowboys), the team's new number one receiver.
Read more: Howie Roseman (again) answers the Jalen Hurts question how Eagles fans would
As long as Roseman is the general manager of the Eagles, Philly will continue to get lucky and land some of the top players in the draft because he's just that good.
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