How Eagles stole Makai Lemon from the Pittsburgh Steelers

Makai Lemon was on the phone with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday night when his phone kept ringing and ringing and ringing.

It was the Eagles.

The Steelers were preparing to draft the USC receiver with the No. 21 overall pick when the Eagles pulled off a trade with the Dallas Cowboys to jump in front of their cross-state rival to steal Lemon.

“First I answered the phone and it was the Steelers and then my phone kept ringing,” Lemon said shortly after the Eagles selected him at No. 20 overall. “I look and it’s the Eagles. … They traded up and they were going to pick me. I feel like everything happens for a reason. They traded up, so it means a lot. They really want me. I’m all in and they gonna get everything that I got.”

Lemon was in Pittsburgh for the draft on Thursday night but he’ll be heading to Philadelphia on Friday. (If you’re keeping track, that’s the fourth win for Philadelphia over Pittsburgh this week.)

The Eagles entered the night with pick No. 23 but traded away both of their fourth-round picks to Dallas to move up three spots and land a guy they considered to be a top-15 player.

Throughout the night, the Eagles monitored Lemon’s fall through the teens and took note when a couple possible landing spots passed on him. When he was still available at No. 20, the Eagles pounced.

But it took a little longer than normal to share the news with Lemon because he was talking to the Steelers.

“When we get on the clock, we immediately try to contact the player,” Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said. “It took us a couple minutes to contact the player and get him on the phone. That hasn’t happened very often. The clock got down a little bit lower than we would have liked but we were able to get in touch with him and obviously select him.”

Lemon, 21, was the Biletnikoff Award winner in 2025. He had 79 catches for 1,156 yards and 11 touchdowns with USC last year. What really stood out to the Eagles was his ability to separate, his ability after the catch, his instincts, toughness and competitiveness.

While Lemon met with the Eagles at the Combine and took a pre-draft 30 visit to the Jefferson Health Training Complex, he was surprised the Eagles got him on Thursday night.

“I was definitely shocked. Definitely,” Lemon said. “I couldn’t be more happy that they did. So I’m super blessed. It was the right time, the right team and everything worked out just how it was supposed to be.”

Lemon said his 30 visit to Philly had “great vibes” and he’s looking forward to playing for the Eagles. During that pre-draft visit, he shot some hoops with head coach Nick Sirianni, who tries to gauge the competitiveness of prospects with challenges in the building.

Lemon said he let Sirianni win.

“I gotta get a rematch,” Lemon said. “I ain’t going out like that. I ain’t going to let him win next time.”