According to multiple reports, the Eagles traded both of their fourth-round selections to the Dallas Cowboys for the No. 20 pick, leapfrogging the Steelers who were preparing to draft Lemon at No. 21.
Lemon, who won the Biletnikoff Award as the nation's top receiver this season, caught 79 passes for 1,156 yards and 11 touchdowns at USC. He said he was surprised when the Eagles called while he was on the phone with the Steelers. 'I answered the phone and it was the Steelers.
My phone kept ringing. I look and it was the Eagles. They traded up and they were going to pick me.
I feel like everything happened for a reason. They traded up, so it means a lot that they really wanted me,' Lemon said. Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said the team expected Lemon to go in the top 15 and were surprised he was still available.
'We kind of had a really good sense of who we thought the first 15 guys would be. One of those guys did not go in the first 15, and he was available to us. So I think for us, when we saw that, it was just trying to figure out where we can move up,' Roseman said.
The Eagles' selection of Lemon comes amid speculation that wide receiver AJ Brown is likely to be traded, with the New England Patriots as the leading contender. By waiting until June 1 to trade Brown, the Eagles can spread his $40 million salary cap hit over two seasons.