Sean Mannion's Comfort Food? How the Dontayvion Wicks Trade Could Help The Eagles' First-Time OC

PHILADELPHIA — While most reporters were understandably focused on how Dontayvion Wicks fits with the Eagles amid the uncertain future of A.J. Brown, I was more intrigued by whether the trade for Wicks represented layered interest — perhaps a subtle piece of comfort food for 33-year-old first-time offensive coordinator Sean Mannion.

If not for the Eagles’ status as the NFL’s premier soap opera — currently centered on superstars A.J. Brown and Jalen Hurts — the Mannion hiring would have been one of the most fascinating and almost antithetical stories of the offseason.

It came in response to a disappointing offensive performance in the 2025 season that ultimately cost longtime assistant Kevin Patullo his job as play-caller.

The organization initially targeted experienced play-callers, setting its sights on former head coaches Mike McDaniel and Brian Daboll. Neither seriously entertained the idea of stepping into Philadelphia’s high-pressure environment with better options available elsewhere.

The search pressed on and expanded dramatically, eventually reaching 17 candidates with seven finalists, before Mannion “revealed” himself to head coach Nick Sirianni.

At just 33 years old, Mannion brings a unique profile: a former quarterback with deep roots in pro-style offenses and a remarkably quick transition to coaching.

A standout at Oregon State, he set multiple Pac-12 and school records, including career passing yards (13,600), touchdown passes (83), and completions (1,187). Mannion started 43 games for the Beavers and once threw for a school-record 4,662 yards and 37 touchdowns in a single season.

Drafted in the third round (89th overall) by the St. Louis Rams in 2015, Mannion carved out a nine-year NFL career as a reliable backup and scout-team staple. He spent his first four seasons with the Rams (backing up the likes of Case Keenum, Nick Foles, and Jared Goff), followed by stints with the Minnesota Vikings (including a 2021 start against the Packers in which he threw his lone career NFL touchdown) and the Seattle Seahawks.

Mannion retired after the 2023 season and immediately jumped into coaching, joining the Green Bay Packers as an offensive assistant in 2024 under head coach Matt LaFleur — a reunion from their time together with the Rams in 2017. He was quickly promoted to quarterbacks coach in 2025, succeeding the legendary Tom Clements and working closely with Jordan Love and Malik Willis.

Those two years in Green Bay gave Mannion hands-on experience in a Kyle Shanahan-influenced system, which emphasizes motion, play-action, outside-zone runs, and timing routes. The plan now is to install a similar offensive scheme in Philadelphia — one Mannion knows intimately from both his playing days and his recent coaching tenure in Green Bay.

Wicks, having spent time with the Packers, already speaks that language and understands the system inside and out. Despite being the new arrival, the receiver will enter camp with a clear leg up on the incumbents when it comes to scheme familiarity.

Really Selfish

Nov 23, 2025; Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA; Green Bay Packers wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks (13) runs after the catch against the Minnesota Vikings during the first half at Lambeau Field. | Kayla Wolf-Imagn Images

Eagles GM Howie Roseman admitted he wants to see Mannion “have tremendous success,” but emphasized that the acquisition — and the subsequent one-year extension — was first and foremost about the player.

“We’re really selfish,” Roseman said. “I mean, we’re trying to help ourselves and this football team first and foremost. So from our perspective, the good players — obviously it’s a plus when they’ve worked with those guys — but first and foremost they’ve got to be good players that we like, too.

"… So I think when we look at decisions like that, it’s not in a vacuum where just one person is deciding. We’re watching him, [Mannion is] watching him, we’re doing a full evaluation of the player.”

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