NFL Could Investigate Steelers For Makai Lemon Incident

A little nugget of fun that occurred on Thursday night has the potential to become a problem for one NFL team that tried to jump the gun on contacting a prospect.

During the first round of the NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers contacted wide receiver Makai Lemon to inform him of their plans to draft him. However, the Steelers had the rug pulled out from under them by the Philadelphia Eagles, who jumped in front of them with a trade to take Lemon right before they could send the card to Roger Goodell.

The following day, former Eagles executive Jake Rosenberg pointed out on X that it's against league rules for NFL teams to contact draft prospects if it interferes with other teams that are on the clock contacting them.

"Clubs that are not ‘on the clock' may have discussions with the representative of one or more draft-eligible players not yet selected (or discussion with the players themselves) regarding the player's interest in playing in the League, playing with a particular club or type of club, the player's health, or other such non-financial matters, so long as these discussions do not interfere with discussions between a player and the club that is ‘on the clock.'"

Looming Problem?

According to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk, he reached out to the league about the rule. The league replied that it "reviews all aspects of the Draft the week after its conclusion" - meaning that if there is a potential rule break that occurred, an investigation into it could be looming.

But even Florio conceded that it might not wind up being that big of a deal to the league if they determine that it was an "innocent mistake" and not an effort for the Steelers to manipulate things.

"It seemed to be an innocent mistake, and the Eagles likely would have picked Lemon in that spot even if they couldn't have made the perfunctory phone call before doing so..."

The Steelers ultimately took Arizona State offensive lineman Max Iheanachor once their effort to land Lemon fell apart.

Pittsburgh followed up the Iheanachor selection by taking a handful of noteworthy players in the second and third rounds: Alabama WR Germie Bernard, Penn State QB Drew Allar and Georgia CB Daylen Everette.

As for the Eagles, they added Vanderbilt TE Eli Stowers in the second round and Miami OT Markel Bell in the third.

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This story was originally published April 25, 2026 at 1:15 PM.