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Makai Lemon of USC is central to an odd tale involving the Cowboys, Steelers and Eagles.

Heading into last week’s NFL draft, there was a wide assumption that the Dallas Cowboys would be looking to move around on the board to maximize their first two picks, originally at No. 12 and No. 20. They wound up moving both–they moved up a slot to No. 11 in a trade with Miami and they made a deal with the Eagles to move back from No. 20 to No. 23.

Now, there has been talk that the Cowboys were a bit underhanded in making the move with the Eagles, with the story going that the Cowboys had been tipped off to the fact that the Steelers were planning to take receiver Makai Lemon at No. 21. The Cowboys knew the Eagles wanted Lemon, and dangled No. 20 in front of them–Philly would have to get ahead of the Steelers to get their man.

The Eagles made the trade, the story goes, and when the Steelers found out that the Cowboys had been tipped off to the Lemon plans, folks in the Pittsburgh brain trust were angry.

Cowboys Deny Hard Feelings After NFL Draft

Now, the Cowboys were asked to address that situation with the Steelers on Saturday, and both owner Jerry Jones and his son and VP Stephen Jones denied that the Cowboys had been underhanded, or that the Steelers were angry about it. Pittsburgh is now the home of new coach Mike McCarthy, who had been the head coach of the Cowboys for five seasons.

“That’s not right,.” Stephen Jones said, after which Jerry Jones added, “Not at all.”

“I don’t want to get on their bad side,” Jerry Jones said. “I’m sorry if they’re mad. But, boy, I’ll tell you what, we’ve had it happen to us a bunch of times. It [was] traded right out from under us.”

Cowboys Threw a Wrench in NFL Draft Plans

What can be said for sure is that the Steelers wanted Lemon and thought they were getting him. Lemon himself confirmed that he was on the phone with the Steelers (which is not allowed, and the NFL is investigating) when the phone rang from Philadelphia. Lemon did not answer it. But he had not known that the Eagles had traded up for him, and that he was actually heading to Philadelphia.

But whether the Cowboys gamed the system by finding out the Steelers’ draft plan–perhaps through some trickery–for Lemon and leveraging that into an Eagles deal remains uncertain.

Makai Lemon on Phone–With Steelers

NFL insider Ian Rapoport relayed the whole, weird story–even though the Cowboys would quarrel with the details:

“Let me set the scene for you. The Dallas Cowboys were on the clock at No. 20 with everybody knowing they were going defense. Pittsburgh Steelers get on the phone with Makai Lemon, planning to select him next at 21. Except what they didn’t know is the Eagles had actually traded up over them, were trying to get in touch with Lemon, but he wasn’t answering because he was already on the phone with the Steelers.

“In the end, the Eagles do the trade, they get Makai Lemon, and the Steelers grab a tackle right after.”