Overview
- The NFL, which reviews draft communications after the event, is examining video that showed Makai Lemon on the phone with Steelers GM Omar Khan as Philadelphia traded up to No. 20 on Thursday.
- Former Eagles executive Jake Rosenberg pointed to league language that permits pre-clock discussions only if they do not interfere with the club on the clock, raising the possibility that Pittsburgh’s call crossed that line.
- Steelers GM Omar Khan told reporters there was no ill intent and called the sequence a draft curveball, and Pittsburgh pivoted to select Arizona State tackle Max Iheanachor at No. 21.
- Cowboys leaders Stephen Jones and Jerry Jones rejected talk that Dallas acted underhandedly in trading No. 20 to Philadelphia, saying such moves are part of how the draft works.
- Analysts expect any discipline, if issued, to be a fine rather than loss of picks, and the viral clip has already shaped the fallout as Lemon settles in with the Eagles while Pittsburgh absorbs the public misstep under the league’s eight-minute first-round clock.