Eagles Howie Roseman Recaps Day 1, Gives Thoughts On A.J. Brown, O-Line, And More

Day 1 of the NFL draft ended with the Eagles adding another receiver - not an offensive lineman - in a trade up, signaling the certain end of A.J. Brown's tenure with the team. That and more here:

Eagles GM Howie Roseman (left) and head coach Nick Sirianni met with reporters after selecting Makai Lemon in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft. | Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

PHILADELPHIA - If this was on anyone’s first-round bingo card, raise your hand. A receiver? If there was still the smallest shred of doubt that A.J. Brown would be traded around June 1, this selection removed it. Not just removed but stomped on it. Jumped up and down on it.

Jersey number 11 will be available this summer, because Brown won’t be wearing it. Maybe the new guy will. That new guy, Makai Lemon, was the surprising pick of the Eagles on Thursday night.

Howie Roseman was asked about Brown when he and head coach Nick Sirianni talked prior to the clock striking midnight.

“I think for us, again, AJ is a member of the Eagles," said the GM. “We don’t have any trades that have been made, or that are done. I think for us, we’re taking this one day at a time. We’re going to look to improve the team (Friday), and we’ll continue to address anything that we have to with our roster, not only through this draft weekend, but we’ll continue to look for ways to improve the team throughout the offseason and as we get into training camp.”

What about offensive line?

Most, if not all, the draft mocksters, were thinking offensive line in the first round. There were some outliers who thought it could be tight end Kenyon Sadiq, who went at No. 16 overall to the New York Jets.

“I think when you look at our offensive line, bringing Fred (Johnson) back, obviously, was big,” said Roseman. “We drafted two tackles last year that we liked (Myles Hinton and Cam Williams).

“Obviously, that’s why we drafted them. We have some young interior players that we’re high on (Drew Kendall and Willie Lampkin). We’re just done with Day 1. Always, we want to build this team along the lines of scrimmage. That’s always a priority for us. We got a fun night (Friday) night, hopefully.”

Perhaps an offensive lineman will come with one of the three picks on Friday – one in the second round (54) and two in the third (68 and 98).

Rebuilt Receiver Room

Apr 23, 2026; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Southern California Trojans receiver Makai Lemon during the 2026 NFL Draft at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Eagles have now added four receivers in the offseason – Lemon in the draft, Dontayvion Wicks via a trade and free-agent signings Hollywood Brown and Elijah Moore. Makes you wonder what the future holds for receivers Johnny Wilson, Darius Cooper, and Britain Covey.

“When we look at the wide receiver position in the offseason, felt like it was an area we wanted to address,” said Roseman. “We wanted to really have a basketball team of skillset of different players who could do different things and add to the offense and give us versatility and give us depth. Hopefully to play for a long season and have those guys.”

Trading with a rival…again

The last time the Eagles selected a receiver in the first round of the NFL draft was 2021. That selection, DeVonta Smith, was made possible with a trade up the board with the Dallas Cowboys.

Fast forward to Thursday night’s first round when the traded up again with their NFC East rival Cowboys to select USC’s Lemon. The move up required a leap of three spots, going from their original pick at No. 23, to No. 20. The jump cost the Eagles both their fourth-round picks (Nos. 114 and 137). The Cowboys gave up a seventh-round pick (No. 218) in next year’s draft

The two teams also swapped mid-round picks back in 2020, allowing the Cowboys to take center Tyler Biadasz, who has since moved on to a couple different teams.

Roseman was asked about dealing with an NFC East rival, something that only seems to happen between the Eagles and Cowboys.

“I think everyone’s just trying to do what’s best for their football and when you’re in the draft and you try to figure out what’s the value of if you’re trying to trade up you want to do what’s best for you and they’re going to do what’s best for them,” said Roseman. “You get in those moments and you’re trying to see if you have partners there and if there are things that are win-win, and certainly they’re not doing a trade they don’t feel good about and we’re trying our best to do what’s best for the Philadelphia Eagles.”

Trade lightens draft capital

The Eagles will now have just two picks as of now on Saturday – one in each the fifth (178) and sixth rounds (197).

“Obviously, it’s hard giving away those two fourth-round picks there, because those are two players and two guys that when we talk about the draft, we were really excited to start on Saturday,” said Roseman, “but just felt it was really important to get (Lemon) based on where he was ranked and the contributions we think he can make to our team.”