New Information Reveals If Steelers Were Trying To Keep Eagles From Talking To Makai Lemon

One of the crazier stories from the 2026 NFL Draft involved cross-state rivals in the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles. General Manager Omar Khan was confident that wide receiver Makai Lemon would be there for the taking with the 21st overall selection. Then, the Dallas Cowboys took a call from Howie Roseman, which eventually led to Philadelphia picking the talented pass-catcher. This will be something that could seriously alter the trajectory of the offenses for both Pennsylvania franchises. Time will tell which organization ends up getting the better end of the deal.

It is very possible that the NFL is looking into the Steelers. Typically, calling a prospect before a team is on the clock is frowned upon. The event moves quickly, and anyone can trade up or back at any time. Pittsburgh jumped the gun and has been feeling the backlash since. Max Iheanachor could turn into a stout lineman, but because of what happened, Art Rooney II could end up getting slapped with a fine from the league office.

Whether it was intentional or not is up for debate. If the Steelers kept Lemon on the phone and the Eagles weren't able to get in touch with him, it's unlikely that Philadelphia would have selected the wideout. An investigation is probably ongoing, so Rooney and Khan could end up facing discipline because of how everything transpired on draft night.

On Monday morning, Steelers beat writer Mark Kaboly published a mailbag that he hosted via X. Someone asked if he believes that Pittsburgh was trying to stall on the phone in order to keep Roseman and co. from talking to Lemon. The insider vehemently shut this down because the pass-catcher had his agent right there beside him.

"No, because he can just call the agent who is standing five feet away," Kaboly wrote. "I think the Steelers weren’t anticipating that the Cowboys were going to trade with their rivals, and the clock ran down as they were making the trade, and the Steelers felt it was safe to make the call. That’s how I viewed it. Nothing nefarious was going on."

It really doesn't make sense for the Steelers to risk their reputation and fines in this situation. The more likely scenario is what Kaboly noted. There was no belief in Pittsburgh's building that the Cowboys would make a deal with the devil, so to speak. It happened, and Philadelphia finally was able to alert Lemon because of his agent's presence in the green room at the draft.

It will be a little while for fans to figure out if the Eagles did the Steelers a favor or not. The bottom line, however, is that Pittsburgh was not trying to do anything illegal in the process. It just so happened that Dallas and Philadelphia did something that not many around the league would have expected. The entire situation was rather unfortunate, but it could have been a lot worse if Pittsburgh actually did purposely keep Roseman from selecting Lemon.

This will be a lesson learned for Khan and Rooney. The two have been around for a long time; however, it's never too late to have an experience that allows a front office to change how it may operate in the future. It will likely be the last time the Steelers ever call a prospect, specifically a first-rounder, until they are on the clock with no chance of the player going anywhere else due to a trade.

Steelers Are Hoping The Hectic Moment Is A Blessing In Disguise

Iheanachor is an incredibly talented lineman with plenty of upside. He may be a little raw and need some developing, but if he turns into an All-Pro, this entire ordeal will actually have benefited Pittsburgh. It will be something that is talked about for years, and the end result will be very fascinating, depending on what the respective franchises get from these two now-rookies.

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