It may have been a bumpy landing, but the Philadelphia Eagles were able to get their guy in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft.
After a run of top players being selected, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman was left with one player on his big board, forcing the team to make a trade with NFC East rival Dallas Cowboys to move up from pick 23 to pick 20. That led the Eagles to select USC wide receiver Makai Lemon.
Philly got their guy to replace A.J. Brown for the future, which is a good thing, but more needs to be done as Day 2 of the 2026 NFL Draft approaches. Roseman has one move the Eagles need to make to have a successful rest of the draft.
Eagles' next move is to trade back in the draft and collect more picks
The Eagles lost two fourth-round picks as part of the trade with the Cowboys to select Lemon, leaving the team with only five picks remaining for the rest of the draft. Knowing how Roseman thinks, this is not going to fly with him.
Philly is going to have to go to the drawing board and try to trade back for more picks. Going into Day 2, they have one second-round selection and two third-round picks. With the second round selection being so late in the round, the Eagles might be smart in moving down to see if they can gain a pick or two on Day 3 to keep them active.
Of course, this will depend on who is available at their 54th overall pick, but they also have the 68th overall selection in the third round, so they won't have to wait long for another pick. That might make it easier for them to trade down, potentially either right at the end of the second round or at the beginning of the third.
If there are players like Vanderbilt tight end Eli Stowers, Missouri edge rusher Zion Young, or Toledo safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren available, it might be harder to justify trading that 54th pick. On the flip side, if they are all gone, it's better just to trade down and move on with an extra pick or two.
Read more: Nick Sirianni is loving what Eagles fans are about to quickly learn about Makai Lemon
Roseman is going to stay aggressive that's for sure. Eagles fans will have to see what he does next.
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