On Friday night, Eagles first-round receiver Makai Lemon was ringing the bell at the Celtics-76ers playoff game. The night before, he was on the horn with the Steelers, who were planning to take him with the 21st pick in the draft.
Unbeknownst to Pittsburgh, the Eagles had jumped up to pick No. 20. And Philly wasn't able to get through to Lemon, since he was talking to the Steelers.
Former Eagles exec Jake Rosenberg noted on Friday that the Steelers may have run afoul of the rules by talking directly to Lemon at a time when the Eagles were attempting to reach him.
On Friday, we asked the league about the rule regarding calling prospects when another team is on the clock. Here's the response we received earlier today: "The league reviews all aspects of the Draft the week after its conclusion."
Obviously, the Steelers' call to Lemon will fall within the scope of that review.
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. Besides, the embarrassment of having it known that tackle Max Iheanachor was Plan B is arguably punishment enough.
