Pittsburgh Steelers suffer arguably most embarrassing moment of the draft

Last week, after months of NFL insiders and draft experts saying they expected the Washington Commanders to use their first-round pick on a wide receiver, a new name appeared on their draft radar: Mansoor Delane.

The cornerback out of LSU was the highest graded CB in his class, and the Commanders are seen as being weak at the position, so the marriage made a lot of sense.

As the draft fell to the seventh pick and running back Jeremiyah Love (Notre Dame) and wide receiver Carnell Tate (Ohio State), two names that had been tied to the team for weeks, were taken off the board, it began looking increasingly likely that Delane was heading to D.C.

But the Commanders never got the chance. The Kansas City Chiefs traded up with the Cleveland Browns from the 9th overall pick to the 6th, taking Monsoor one spot ahead of where he was supposed to go.

At least that was the thinking when it happened.

But to hear Commanders GM Adam Peters tell it, once the Tennessee Titans took Carnell Tate, Sonny Styles was the player they were praying would fall to them.

The Browns didn't take a corner with either of their first-round picks. The Commanders went linebacker and the New Orleans Saints went wide receiver. The Chiefs gave up their third-round and fifth-round picks to get their guy, but if they had just waited, there's a good chance they would've gotten him anyway.

Seems like the Chiefs may have gotten deeked on that one.

The Washington Commanders know loose lips sink ships

Entering year 3 of the Adam Peters-as-GM, Dan Quinn-as-head-coach partnership, one thing has become clear about the new Washington regime. They don't do leaks.

Their first-round pick last year, Josh Connerly Jr., was also a surprise to most draft analysts. But it goes beyond that.

No one expected them to fire Kliff Kingsbury as their offensive coordinator during the offseason. No one knew what was going on when they were renegotiating star wideout Terry McLaurin's contract. The team keeps its operational security tight as a drum.

Contrast that with what happened to the Pittsburgh Steelers with pick 21 in the first round.

They were literally on the phone with their target, USC wide out Makai Lemon, when he had to hang up because he was getting a call from their cross-state rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles. You see, Dallas, who owned the 20th pick, one ahead of the Steelers, was guaranteed not to take a wide receiver because they are already stacked at the position.

So once Carolina chose Monroe Freeling with the 19th pick, it seemed like smooth sailing for the Steelers.

What they didn't expect was for the Cowboys to hop on the phone with the Eagles and tell them that if they wanted Lemon, they needed to trade the 23rd overall pick to them, along with two fourth-rounders, and take him before the Steelers could get their hands on him.

It worked out for the Eagles, who got their guy. It worked out for the Cowboys, who picked up a couple of extra picks. But the Steelers were completely caught off guard.

Pittsburgh ended up taking Max Iheanachor, an offensive tackle out of Arizona State, but analysts saw the pick as a panicked reaction to losing Lemon.

Now, as for how the Cowboys knew the Steelers would take Lemon, there are a few theories.

Common sense could have come into play as Lemon was a highly touted prospect, and the Steelers are motivated to give their quarterback, potentially Aaron Rodgers, a shiny new toy.

But Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy was the Cowboys' head coach last year. The team fired him, but promoted his offensive coordinator to his old job. It isn't out of the realm of possibility that McCarthy and the Steelers' draft plan had a leak.

Either Lemon to Pittsburgh was the world's worst-kept secret, or the Steelers have a mole in the house. Either way, the Washington Commanders got their guy because they kept a secret. The Steelers lost theirs because theirs got out.

Related: Way-too-early 2026 NFL Draft Grades Are In

Copyright 2026 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

This story was originally published April 27, 2026 at 10:43 AM.