What Eagles' Makai Lemon draft pick means for A.J. Brown as June 1 trade looms

The shuffling of the Philadelphia Eagles' wide receiver room has continued at the 2026 NFL Draft.

While A.J. Brown is still on the roster, that isn't expected to be the case by the start of the 2026 season. And plenty of new faces are already on board in Philadelphia's offense — after adding offensive coordinator Sean Mannion, the Eagles also acquired multiple veteran wideouts in free agency.

On Thursday night, only furthering the Brown speculation, they landed a potential Brown replacement. USC wide receiver Makai Lemon went at No. 20 overall to Philadelphia, which traded up with its rival Dallas Cowboys to acquire the pick.

Here's what the Lemon pick means for A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and more for the Eagles.

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What Eagles' Makai Lemon pick means for A.J. Brown

At this point, the NFL's worst-kept secret is that the Eagles are expected to trade A.J. Brown around June 1, and likely to the New England Patriots. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported on Monday that Brown is considered "likely" to be dealt to the Patriots, but a deal wouldn't materialize until June.

Brown, the subject of trade rumors dating back to the 2025 trade deadline, has had some off-the-field drama in Philadelphia. Because the Eagles would take a $40 million cap hit by trading Brown, they're expected to wait until June 1, when they're able to split cap hits between 2026 and 2027, preserving some financial flexibility.

The selection of Lemon at No. 20, including trading picks No. 23, No. 114 and No. 137 to acquire the pick, only further confirms the Eagles' plans to move on from Brown, one way or another. While the team won a Super Bowl with its Brown-Smith duo at wide receiver and is expected to lean more heavily on Smith once it moves on from Brown, the Lemon acquisition gives the Eagles a pair of shorter receivers with terrific ball and route-running skills.

With Mannion taking over as play-caller, he'll be able to utilize Smith and Lemon in plenty of creative ways, something Philadelphia's offense lacked in 2025. 

Nothing is official with Brown, but at this point, it would be a significant surprise if he's an Eagle by Week 1 of the 2026 season. If that was the case, Philadelphia's offense would have a lot of mouths to feed. But as long as Brown's expected trade, likely to New England, goes to plan, the Eagles now have their next star-level receiver to pair with Smith.

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Eagles WR depth chart

*Expected to be traded

For now, Brown is on the Eagles' roster, but the expectation is that Smith and Lemon will be headlining a new-look wide receiver room for Jalen Hurts in 2026.

Smith, entering his sixth NFL season, hasn't operated as a true WR1 since his rookie year due to Brown's presence, but he's long been regarded as one of the best second-options in the NFL. The former Heisman Trophy winner will be stepping into a bigger role next season coming off his third career 1,000-yard season, likely to be featured all over the field in Philadelphia's offense.

Lemon, however, should also have a path to a sizable workload within a talented Eagles offense. At USC in 2025, he posted 1,156 yards and 11 touchdowns on 79 receptions, bringing an elite background in the slot to Philadelphia despite lacking in size. Praised for his IQ and route-running, Lemon is expected to transition well into the NFL — he's the kind of player who won't require much time to find chemistry with Hurts.

The Eagles also put in work in free agency to build out more depth than usual in their receiver room. Hollywood Brown has over 4,000 career yards to his name, bringing some needed depth, while the Eagles also pried away Wicks from Green Bay via trade — a speedy receiver who never had much of a path to starting reps with the Packers.

Also with some further options in Elijah Moore and Darius Cooper, the Eagles' passing offense should look much different in 2026, which was clearly a goal for Howie Roseman, Nick Sirianni and company after a clear disconnect last year. 

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