Eagles' Howie Roseman Tells His Side of Makai Lemon Phone Call During NFL Draft, Was in 'Dark Place'

A bizarre moment occurred during the first round of the NFL draft when the Pittsburgh Steelers got on the phone with USC wide receiver Makai Lemon, who they were planning to select at No. 21.

There was just one problem. The Philadelphia Eagles were selecting at No. 20 and wanted to select Lemon themselves. They couldn't get an immediate hold of Lemon because he was on the phone with Pittsburgh. That led to some confusion, but eventually, the Eagles took the USC star at No. 20 overall.

On Friday, during an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman provided a peak behind the scenes and revealed that he went to a "dark place" when Philadelphia couldn't reach him at first (conversation starts at 1:30).

"I went to a dark place," Roseman said (2:39 mark). "I went to a place where it's like, you know, we better find out where this guy is and get him on the phone for us to pick him right here. So, you know, started calling the agent, couldn't get in touch with him, kept calling Makai, and then, fortunately, with about three minutes left, got in touch with him. Didn't know that video was going on, didn't really know everything around what was going on with him, but certainly felt like it was important to get on the phone with him. It's just, you think in your head as a GM, like, I got to hear the guy's voice, you know, I got to make sure."

Eisen then asked why it was important for Roseman to make contact with Lemon (or any player, in general) before making a draft pick (3:23 mark).

"The world's a crazy place, you know? You just don't know, God forbid something happens, you know? Like, you just don't know. You don't know where they are. And for me, it's just hearing them and talking to them. It's just an easy part of the process. It's never really been something I was concerned about. We had one guy, when I was a personnel director, that we couldn't get in touch with when we were on the clock, but his parents picked up and just said he was so frustrated he hadn't got drafted that he went for a walk. So, you know, we were like, 'Yeah, you gotta go find him in like the next three minutes.' You just want to make sure all your i's are dotted and your t's are crossed.

Roseman further clarified he didn't know the Steelers were on the phone with Lemon. It was just a matter of the Eagles needing to get in touch with Lemon immediately. He did say that they were able to make that contact with a few minutes left on the clock.

There was some initial concern here, obviously, but it all ended well for the Eagles, who got their target. Philadelphia traded up from No. 23 to No. 20 with the Dallas Cowboys by sending picks 114 and 137 (both fourth-rounders) to the Cowboys. The Eagles also got a 2027 seventh-round pick back.

The B/R NFL Scouting Department ranked Lemon fourth among wide receivers and 14th overall on its final big board. The All-American dominated his final year at USC, catching 79 passes for 1,156 yards and 11 touchdowns. He also added two rushing scores.