USC Trojans wide receiver Makai Lemon‘s 2026 NFL Draft night saw him going from getting ready to watch reruns of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” to getting acquainted with “Abbott Elementary.”
In other words:
Mere moments after Lemon was on the phone with Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan, it was announced in the background that the Philadelphia Eagles were jumping Pittsburgh via a trade with the Dallas Cowboys to select the receiver with the No. 20 pick, as shown in a circulated video.
“Pittsburgh called me and I thought they were going to draft me and then the Eagles called at the same time. I guess it was meant to be. I’m super excited to be in Philly,” Lemon said in a press conference on Thursday night, per The Associated Press.
So, uh, wow!
To move up for the No. 20 pick, the Eagles traded picks No. 23, 114 and 137 in the 2026 NFL Draft to the Cowboys. Philadelphia also acquired a 2027 seventh-round pick.
This move marked the second time in the last six drafts that the two NFC East rivals made a trade involving their respective first-round picks, as the Eagles traded up two spots to select wide receiver DeVonta Smith with the No. 10 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, while the Cowboys then selected defensive end Micah Parsons with the No. 12 pick.
As for the player that the Eagles moved up to draft on Thursday night, Lemon is coming off an All-American campaign at USC. The former five-star recruit totaled 79 receptions for 1,156 yards (14.6 yards per reception) and 11 touchdowns in 2025. He joins a Philadelphia wide receiver core that includes the earlier mentioned Smith and offseason pickups Dontayvion Wicks and Marquise Brown, among others.
Eagles star wide receiver and three-time Pro Bowler A.J. Brown, who has publicly expressed displeasure with his role in the Eagles’ offense in recent years, is expected to be traded later this offseason (a team can acquire and spread out Brown’s cap hit after June 1).
As for the other teams involved in Lemon’s draft night, the Steelers went on to pick Arizona State Sun Devils offensive tackle Max Iheanachor at pick No. 21 and the Cowboys selected UCF Knights defensive end Malachi Lawrence at pick No. 23.
