The Philadelphia Eagles took Makai Lemon from the Pittsburgh Steelers and Makai Lemon is taking the No. 9 jersey number from Nick Foles. With Foles’ blessing, of course.
The Eagles first-rounder announced he would be donning the No. 9 while speaking with the media during rookie minicamp on Thursday, ending what was apparently an unofficial retirement of the number. He will be the first Eagles player to wear it since Foles, who won MVP honors for the team’s first Super Bowl championship in 2018.
Lemon said he appreciated Foles letting him have the number:
“Appreciate the Eagles so much, Nick Foles especially, to pass that number down, because I know he could have easily kept that number to himself. Such a great player when he was here wearing that No. 9. Led them to the Super Bowl, so I appreciate him so much.
“I definitely cherish that and I’ll represent the 9 well … I’m just super excited to get that number.”
Foles played five total seasons across two different tenures with the Eagles, wearing the No. 9 throughout. He last played in the NFL in 2022, as a back-up for the Indianapolis Colts, before retiring in 2024 via a one-day contract with the Eagles.
Officially, the Eagles have nine retired numbers: 5 (Donovan McNabb), 15 (Steve Van Buren), 20 (Brian Dawkins), 40 (Tom Brookshier), 44 (Pete Retzlaff), 60 (Chuck Bednarik), 70 (Al Wistert), 92 (Reggie White) and 99 (Jerome Brown).
🍋⬇️🤭 https://t.co/SdJtetn0DLpic.twitter.com/9yrsHJwPo8
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) April 30, 2026
The Eagles selected Lemon with the 20th overall pick of the 2026 NFL Draft, executing a trade to leapfrog the Pittsburgh Steelers at 21. Lemon had actually been on the phone with the Steelers when the Eagles called him to let him known what they had done, in one of the more fun stories of the night.
Lemon played three seasons at USC in college, winning the Biletnikoff Award for college football’s top receiver. He was widely considered one of the top wide receivers in the draft, ranking fifth on Yahoo Sports’ big board.
Lemon was also apparently eager to join the Eagles, as he became the first of the first-round picks to sign his rookie contract on Thursday.