It turns out DeVonta Smith wasn’t the biggest beneficiary when the Philadelphia Eagles parted ways with fellow wide receiver A.J. Brown this offseason.
That honor goes to Dontayvion Wicks, acquired from the Green Bay Packers for a couple of late-round draft picks in April and now the favorite to inherit Smith’s former No. 2 wideout role.
The Eagles also signed former first-rounder Hollywood Brown and former second-rounder Elijah Moore in March and drafted USC’s Makai Lemon in the first round in April to battle for the position along with returnees Darius Cooper, Quez Watkins and Britain Covey.
But Wicks, 25, appears to have secured the WR2 spot by running strong routes, making viral catches on a daily basis — sometimes even using both hands — and building a strong rapport with quarterback Jalen Hurts.
“He’s got great work ethic. He’s got great hunger,” Hurts said earlier in camp. “In the summertime, he was beating down the door, trying to spend that time and just work. He’s twitchy. He can attack the ball. He runs great routes. It’ll be exciting to see him work this season with the aggression that he has.”
Wicks also had the built-in advantage of a prior relationship with offensive coordinator Sean Mannion, and he wound up getting more reps in training camp while both Smith and Lemon dealt with hamstring injuries.
Mannion spent the past two seasons on the Packers’ coaching staff as an offensive assistant in 2024 and quarterbacks coach in 2025.
General manager Howie Roseman and the Eagles signed Wicks to a $12.5 million extension for 2027 with $9 million guaranteed, but that’s going to end up looking like a Black Friday bargain at Marshalls.
“First of all, Tay is a steal,” running back Saquon Barkley told the “Up & Adams Show” earlier this month. “I don’t like speaking, you know, too high because I don’t want to put too much pressure, but like this guy can handle it and I love everything that he’s about. Shout out to Howie. I don’t know how we got him.
“He just brings like a different type of energy for the wide receiver group and not just, you know, he’s a violent route runner and he’s violent catching the ball, but he also put his face in there and block at a high level. So I’m excited.”
A fifth-round pick in 2023, Wicks never caught more than 39 passes in any of his three seasons with the Packers. His 180 total targets over 46 games breaks down to 3.9 looks per contest.
By comparison, Smith has averaged 6.9 targets per game since the Eagles drafted the former Heisman Trophy winner in the first round in 2021.
Former ESPN analyst Ryan Clark was blown away by Wicks’ performance during last week’s joint practices with the reigning AFC champion New England Patriots.
“I told y’all Dontayvion Wicks had that s— with him!!” Clark posted on X. “Those highlights coming out of joint practices look really scary. If consistency hits, he’s going to be a problem.”
Wicks and the Eagles open the season at home against Washington on Sept. 13.
