Eagles Receive Good Draft Games

by Marc Narducci | May 1, 2026

It looked like Howie Roseman was at his best during last week’s NFL draft. The Eagles executive vice president/general manager loves to make moves at draft and he was certainly in his element. He moved up in a trade to select the first- round pick, later on trading for a former Pro Bowl outside linebacker/edge Jonathan Greenard.

The first big move was trading with the Dallas Cowboys. The Eagles traded their first-round pick, No. 23 overall along with two fourth round picks, No. 114 and No. 137, to Dallas for the No. 20 pick and a 2027 seventh rounder. Selected with the Eagles first round pick was USC wide receiver Makai Lemon, who won the Biletnikoff Award as the best receiver in college football.

This past season the 5-foot-11, 192-pound Lemon caught 79 passes for 1,156 yards and 11 touchdowns in 12 games.

The Eagles’ other big move was acquiring Greenard and a seventh-round pick in 2026 (244^th overall) from the Minnesota Vikings in exchange for two third-round picks, one in this past draft (98^thoverall) and a third-rounder in 2027.

The Eagles then reportedly signed Greenard to a four-year $100 million extension.

The additions of Lemon and Greenard were the two biggest moves by the Eagles, both in positions of need. The Eagles are expected to trade AJ Brown after June 1, when his salary cap dead money of $40 million can be split in two different seasons.

This should almost assure that the disgruntle Brown will be traded, with the New England Patriots considered the likely destination.

This past season in 15 games Brown had 121 targets resulting in 78 receptions for 1,003 yards and seven touchdowns.

It does show how talented Brown is because this seemed like a disappointing season, but one many wide receivers would take in a heartbeat.

Still, Brown was disruptive, complaining about lack of touches and it appears time to move on.

Now Lemon has a real shot to be the Eagles No. 2 receiver behind DeVonta Smith.

As for the acquisition of the 6-3, 259-pound Greenard, the Eagles acquired somebody who is looking to rebound from a disappointing season.

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- Seizing the Moment

After the spring season was canceled last year due to the pandemic, these standout student-athletes from South Jersey are hoping to make the most of their opportunities in 2021.

Greenard, who turns 29 in May, was banged up and only appeared in 12 games, recording 3.0 sacks after 24.5 in the previous two seasons.

If he is healthy and back to his Pro Bowl level in 2024 when he recorded 12.0 sacks, then the Eagles gave up relatively little for a player of that caliber.

The reason Minnesota couldn’t demand more for Greenard, was due to last season’s disappointing performance.

Here are the Eagles draft picks.

Round//Pick Player Pos. College

1/20 Makai Lemon WR USC

2/54 Eli Stowers TE Vanderbilt

3/68 Markel Bell OT Miami

5/178 Cole Payton QB North Dakota State

6/207 Micah Morris OG Georgia

7/244 Cole Wisniewski S Texas Tech

7/251 Uar Bernard DT No college

7/252 Keyshawn James-Newby EDGE New Mexico

Stowers could be the Eagles tight end of the future. Some refer to him as more of a receiver type since blocking isn’t his forte. This past season the 6-3, 239-pound Stowers had 62 receptions for 769 yards and four touchdowns.

Bell (6-9, 346) will be one of the biggest players in the NFL. The Eagles need to develop depth on the offensive line and this could be a developmental year for him if Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata are healthy. That is a big if since Johnson was limited to just 10 games last season and was sidelined for the wild card matchup as well.

Payton was known as a running quarterback at North Dakota State. Could he earn some playing time with running packages as a rookie? It seems like a reach, but since Jalen Hurts has been running less, anything is possible.

The other draft choices are players who will hope to add depth. Bernard is one of the better athletes in the draft, but has no football experience. Then again, neither did Mailata when the Eagles drafted him, so it appears to be a good gamble.

Nobody knows how the rookies will fare and even Greenard will have to prove himself after last season, but Roseman and the Eagles got good grades for a reason. They have added talent and on paper it all looks good.

Check back in a few years to see if these good grades will stand up.

Courtesy of Eagles Twitter/X

Author: Marc Narducci

Eagles Receive Good Draft Games

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