Howie Roseman explains trade for WR Dontayvion Wicks

Mannion’s only two seasons coaching in the NFL were with the Packers under head coach Matt LaFleur. Wicks is someone whose talent and skill set were right there for Mannion to see on a daily basis for two seasons.

But there’s more to this story as the Eagles chose to add yet another wide receiver this offseason, as Wicks became the third newcomer to that room since the start of free agency, joining Marquise Brown and Elijah Moore. Roseman also basically guaranteed that Wicks would be on the team in 2027 by signing Wicks to an extension worth up to $12.5 million.

Some will assume that Wicks, a 6-foot-1, 210-pound target, will help alleviate the loss of A.J. Brown when the Eagles finally move Brown after June 1.

But in Tuesday’s annual pre-draft press conference, Howie Roseman, the team’s executive vice president of football operations, carefully avoided making any connection to the potential trade of Brown. He also revealed another reason that he sent Green Bay two Day 3 picks for Wicks.

“Tay is a player that we’ve followed – obviously we’ve played Green Bay a bunch of times,” Roseman said. “You see his skill set, I mean he’s a physical, explosive player at the top of routes. He can play inside or out. So he’s the guy that we had our eye on here, and then bringing in some of these Green Bay guys. 

“Some of the hardest parts of our job is the cohab part, not understanding who the person is. And so when you get a chance to bring in some of these new coaches and then talk about some of the players and the skill set and then know how they are in the building, it makes you feel even more confident when you make the acquisition.”

Wicks, originally a fifth-round pick out of Virginia, logged 581 yards on 39 receptions with four touchdowns as a rookie, averaging almost 15 yards per catch. He carried expectations of a breakout in 2024 but his numbers actually regressed, to 415 yards on the same number of catches, causing a major drop in his yards per reception.

Last year, Wicks caught just 30 passes for 332 yards despite the Packers dealing with injuries at that position that opened opportunities for him.

In Philadelphia, his role is yet to be determined, but the Eagles have been thin for years behind starters A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. At very least, Wicks is another depth upgrade.

“That was one of the priorities going into this offseason is increasing the depth of quality of talent in the receiver room throughout the room,” Roseman said. “So that really fit for us. Really excited to get Tay here and think he’s an arrow up guy.”

A league source familiar with the Eagles told PhillyVoice that Roseman was known to like Wicks coming out of Virginia in 2023. The Eagles didn’t have a fifth-round pick that year; they had traded it the prior August to acquire safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson from the Saints, a move that helped them get to the Super Bowl.

Still, Roseman paid close attention to Wicks’ career in Green Bay. Not surprisingly, he singled out Wicks’ production in a major NFC North rival game on Thanksgiving against the Lions this past season – six catches, 94 yards, two TDs – along with his eight targets in a game against the Eagles in Week 10. He caught four of them for 38 yards.

In a 2024 NFC Wild Card game between the Eagles and Packers, Wicks hauled in receptions of 29 and 10 yards.

“I think the other thing when you talk about [Wicks] is you can see that in key situations that the quarterback had a lot of trust in him,” Roseman added. “You just go back to that Detroit game and he had some injuries towards the end of the year in that Detroit game, that 4th-and-3 catch that he had. He had another fourth-down catch in that game. The touchdown in the corner in the end zone where he caught that ball, even in the game against us really trusting him in key situations.”

Roseman also recalled watching Wicks’ tape on his flight to Arizona last month for the owners meetings, and stepping over his wife, Mindy, just to get over to Sirianni’s seat so they could see the same play together.

“Mindy wasn’t very happy with that, but I got really excited and it wasn’t like the first time we watched him,” Roseman added. “So the player was someone that we were really excited about, and he has a preexisting relationship with some guys on our team, which we learned about and obviously with the coaching staff.”

The Eagles are unquestionably deeper at wide receiver with the additions of Wicks, Brown and potentially Moore, who’s more of a long shot to make the team.

If the Eagles don’t trade Brown, they’ll be as deep and talented there than they’ve been in years. If they do trade Brown, they at least have some proven commodities to fill the void.

After Jahan Dotson had signed with the Falcons early in free agency, the Eagles were down to Darius Cooper, Johnny Wilson, Britain Covey, Danny Gray and Quez Watkins as their backups behind Brown and DeVonta Smith. Cooper and Covey were the only two to actually play an NFL snap in 2025.

The taller, more physical Wicks also provides a different dimension to the offense than Hollywood Brown, who’s more known for speed and quickness.

“I think his toughness really shows up on tape,” Sirianni said. “Again, when you can create that type of separation, we obviously get really excited about that, really excited to add him to that room and excited to have him.”

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