What the Eagles’ Trade for Dontayvion Wicks Could Mean for A.J. Brown and Rest of the WR Room

With rumors of an A.J. Brown trade still in the zeitgeist, the Eagles added another solid weapon to their WR room.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Eagles have pulled off a wide receiver trade—just not the one football fans have been waiting for since the start of the offseason.

On Friday, it was reported that the Eagles had landed WR Dontayvion Wicks from the Packers in exchange for a 2026 fifth-round pick and a ‘27 sixth-rounder, with Wicks signing a one-year extension worth $12.5 million with his new team.

For Philadelphia, the move notably comes ahead of the draft, and also ahead of a potential trade of the team’s current WR1 A.J. Brown. While the addition of Wicks undoubtedly makes a Brown trade a bit more likely for the Eagles, it really sets Philadelphia up for some flexibility heading into a crucial part of the offseason.

How the addition of Dontayvion Wicks affects the Eagles wide receiver room

Philadelphia Eagles wide receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith walk off the field after win against the Pittsburgh Steelers. | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

Brown has been at the core of the Eagles’ passing game for the past four years, ever since he was traded to Philadelphia during the first round of the 2022 draft. Paired with DeVonta Smith—in his second season in the NFL when Brown joined the team—the duo has been one of the strongest 1-2 punches in the league. Tight end Dallas Goedert has served as the team’s other main receiving threat during this stretch.

Let’s be perfectly clear—Wicks is in no way, shape or form the Eagles’ potential replacement for Brown should a trade go through.

That said, the addition of Wicks gives the Eagles a lot of flexibility no matter how the Brown situation shakes out.

Should Brown stay in Philadelphia, Wicks would be the best WR3 the Eagles have had in this iteration of the team—Jahan Dotson was WR3 in their most recent Super Bowl run.

But with the ultimate fate of Brown still up in the air, the Eagles’ decision to bring in Wicks at this moment should help them with overall flexibility when building next season’s roster.

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown looks on prior to an NFC wild-card game against the San Francisco 49ers. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

The first round of the NFL draft is on April 23. For salary cap reasons, it is expected that a trade involving A.J. Brown, should it happen, won’t go through until after June 1.

Obviously, the needs of the Eagles on draft night are extremely different depending on whether or not Brown is on the roster this year. Given the current likely timeline, Philadelphia will have to make its draft decisions before anything with Brown becomes official.

The addition of Wicks, along with the addition of Hollywood Brown earlier in the offseason, allows for the Eagles to feel a bit better heading into the draft while Brown’s status is an open question. Should Brown leave, Philadelphia will still be looking to add more top-level receiver talent, but with Wicks locked in for the year, the cupboards won’t be immediately bare upon his departure.

Eagles WR depth chart after trade for Dontayvion Wicks

The addition of Wicks brings the number of receivers on the Philadelphia roster to 10. Here’s a look at where things likely stand at the moment, though the No. 3 spot would certainly be up for grabs in training camp. Obviously, the departure of Brown would cause a huge shake-up across the board.

WR	WR	WR
A.J. Brown	DeVonta Smith	Dontayvion Wicks
Hollywood Brown	Elijah Moore	Darius Cooper
Johnny Wilson	Britain Covey	Quez Watkins
Danny Gray

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