Friday’s “First Call” has quotes from the Philadelphia Eagles’ general manager about stealing Makai Lemon from the Pittsburgh Steelers. We look at how moves within the AFC North impacted the Steelers.

The Eagles took a little dig at the Penguins, and the Flyers did the same to the Steelers.

And the Penguins aren’t the only team in danger of being swept away in the first round of the NHL playoffs.

See you soon

You may not like the Steelers’ decision to draft Max Iheanachor. Many people would’ve preferred that the Steelers take KC Concepcion — or another wide receiver — who was still on the board.

Others were hoping that the team would trade up to get Utah offensive tackle Spencer Fano or Penn State guard Olaivavega Ioane.

None of that happened, and now those guys are all in the Steelers’ division. Ioane went to the Ravens at No. 14. Fano and Concepcion ended up with Cleveland.

Fano was the first tackle taken at No. 9 overall, and Concepcion went to Cleveland at 26th overall.

Regardless, once the Steelers picked Iheanachor, a lot of Steelers fans cleared out from the North Shore before Concepcion went to the Browns.

We’ll see how many folks come back for Day 2 of the event on Friday, and how early they arrive if the Steelers trade up.

Taking a swipe

After the Eagles stole USC receiver Makai Lemon from the Steelers as Pittsburgh was trying to draft him, Philadelphia’s social media team couldn’t help but take a swipe at the Penguins along the way — given their 0-3 hole to the Flyers in the NHL playoffs.

The Flyers responded with a less-than-subtle reference to the East-West cross-state crossover between the two sports.

If you are wondering when the next time Philly might screw over Pittsburgh on something, the Phillies come to town May 15-17.

The Lemon song

The most amazing thing about how the Eagles jumped in front of the Steelers to draft Lemon is that they made a deal with Dallas to do it, a division rival in the NFC East.

Late Thursday night, Eagles GM Howie Roseman talked about how the move went down.

“We just felt like this was a player that we wanted to go up and get, just based on where our board was at that time. Where we were picking just felt like it made a lot of sense based on our board. And, obviously, when you have a player that you like that’s ranked higher on your board than what you’re picking, you think at every pick that he’s going to be selected,” Roseman said via the team’s website. “That’s just the way the draft is. You think everyone’s thinking the way that you are. And so certainly for us, we didn’t want to sit on our hands. We wanted to go get him. And so that’s why I made the trade.”

Another layer of irony here, of course, is that Steelers coach Mike McCarthy used to coach the Cowboys until he was dismissed after the 2024 season following five years in Dallas.

The Cowboys received the No. 23 pick and two fourth-round selections (Nos. 114 and 137) from Philadelphia for the 20th pick and a 2027 seventh-round pick.

Looks familiar

The Flyers aren’t the only Metropolitan Division team up 3-0 in their first-round NHL Eastern Conference playoff series. So are the division champion Carolina Hurricanes.

They beat the Ottawa Senators, 2-1, on Thursday night, putting the Sens on the brink of elimination, just like the Penguins. Jackson Blake got the game-winner for Carolina.

Carolina outshot Ottawa, 27-22. The Canes won 54.1% of the faceoffs. Carolina looks to close out the sweep Saturday afternoon.

Colorado is also nearing a sweep. The Avalanche have a 3-0 lead on Los Angeles after a 4-2 win on Thursday. Buffalo is winning 2-1 in its series over the Bruins after a 3-1 win in Boston.

Listen: Tim Benz and Seth Rorabaugh discuss the Pens-Flyers series with Philly up 3-0

Featured Local Businesses

More local businesses