Howie Roseman explains why he traded for Dontayvion Wicks

Eagles GM Howie Roseman and HC Nick Sirianni explain why they traded for receiver Dontayvion Wicks.

By Dave Zangaro • Published April 15, 2026

Most of the questions lobbed to Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni on Tuesday in their pre-draft availability were about what might happen next week.

But at least one was about something that already did: The Dontayvion Wicks trade.

Late last week, the Eagles sent a 2026 fifth-round pick and a 2027 sixth-round pick to Green Bay for the 24-year-old receiver. 

"Tay’s a player that we’ve followed,” Roseman said on Tuesday. "Obviously, we’ve played Green Bay a bunch of times. You see his skillset. He is a physical, explosive player a the top of routes. He can play inside or out. He’s a guy we had our eye on here. And bringing in some of these Green Bay guys, some of the hardest parts of our job is the [cohabitation] part, not understanding who the person is. And when you get a chance to bring in some of these new coaches and then talk about some of the players and the skillset and then know how they are in the building, it makes you even more confident when you make that acquisition.

"I think when you look at our receiver room over the last couple of years, obviously we lost Jahan (Dotson), we probably have been fortunate about the depth that we haven’t really had to dive into. Just studying the league and how many teams can go pretty deep in their receiver room, that was one of the priorities going into this offseason, increasing the depth, the quality of talent in the receiver room throughout the room. That really fit.”

Wicks (6-1, 206) was a fifth-round pick out of Virginia back in 2023 and has had decent production in his career with 108 catches for 1,328 yards and 11 touchdowns in a somewhat limited role. But the Eagles think he’s an improving player.

And Wicks played under new Eagles coaches Sean Mannion and Ryan Mahaffey in Green Bay, so they should know about his potential.

Of course, no conversation can be had about Eagles receivers without pondering the future of A.J. Brown. Will he be traded? Will he not? Roseman wasn’t going to answer questions about Brown any differently on Tuesday.

"What do you think the odds are that I’m answering this question any different than I answered it anywhere else? Really?” Roseman said. "Do you think that’s 50%, do you think that’s 75%? A.J. Brown is an Eagle.”

Either way, Wicks will be a part of the Eagles’ receiver room. Not only did they trade away a couple of Day 3 picks to acquire Wicks, but they also extended him through the 2027 season. So the Eagles clearly like Wicks beyond just a dart throw.

What does Sirianni like about his newest receiver?

"Howie mentioned how he is at the top of the route, being able to separate at the top of the route,” Sirianni said. "I think his toughness really shows up on tape. 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.”

After that answer from Sirianni, Roseman jumped in with one more thought about Wicks.

"I think the other thing when you talk about Tay is you can see that in key situations that the quarterback had a lot of trust in him,” Roseman said.

Roseman specifically pointed out a couple of 4th-down catches Wicks had against the Lions in November. The first went for a 22-yard touchdown on 4th-and-3 just outside the red zone in the second quarter and then Wicks iced the game with a 16-yard catch on 4th-and-3 inside the 2-minute warning in the fourth quarter of the 31-24 win.

Roseman said as he and Sirianni flew to Phoenix last month for the NFL owners meetings, they were both watching some Wicks tape. In fact, at one point, Roseman excitedly got up to find Sirianni during the flight to show him a play.

"It wasn’t the first time we watched him,” Roseman said. "The player was someone that we were really excited about. He has a preexisting relationship with guys on our team, which we learned about and obviously with the coaching staff.”

https://www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/howie-roseman-nick-sirianni-trade-dontayvion-wicks-packers-sean-mannion/726665/

You would have to assume they didn't make the move to acquire Wicks without input from Mannion first. He would know better than anyone here what kind of overall person Wicks is, his work ethic, his practice habits, etc.

I just hope that the comments about receiver depth mean our WR3 won’t be pretty much invisible like Dotson was. He was way underutilized here. Hope they plan to spread the ball around more.

^^^^^^

Agreed. Good points.

I was skeptical at first, but I am liking the trade and player a little bit more.

46 minutes ago, LacesOut said:

^^^^^^

Agreed. Good points.

I was skeptical at first, but I am liking the trade and player a little bit more.

As with any of these moves you really can’t say it was a good move or not until we get to see him play. But reasons to be cautiously optimistic.