The Green Bay Packers traded WR Dontayvion Wicks to the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Green Bay Packers traded Dontayvion Wicks to the Philadelphia Eagles earlier this month, receiving a 2026 fifth-round pick and a 2027 sixth-round pick in exchange for the WR.
Why did the Packers trade Wicks? GM Brian Gutekunst answered that question on Tuesday during his pre-draft press conference.
“It’s always tough to move off of a player that you feel is as good as Dontayvion was for us,” Gutekunst said. “I think he’s got a really bright career ahead of him. The situation we were kind of in with the amount of players we had in that room, what we’re probably going to do in the future, him being in the last year of his contract, it just made a little bit of sense. This year, coming out of the ’22 draft class, I think we were lucky enough to have retained a bunch of those guys. But a bunch of those guys signed elsewhere this year, too — we’re probably going to get compensatory picks for those players. I don’t know for sure if we’re going to be able to do that moving forward next year and the year after.
“So, the ability to get two picks for a player that we weren’t sure exactly how he was going to fit into our future plans, it just made a lot of sense. And I think it was good for us, and I think it’s going to be good for Dontayvion, too, I think he’ll see his opportunities increase there as well.”
Additionally, Gutekunst noted that the picks the team received for Wicks should help with flexibility for this week’s draft.
“Every G.M. wants as many as you can [have], not only because of the players you can select, but the ability to move,” Gutekunst said. “You never like giving them up, but if there’s a player in front of you that you know you’re going to acquire, it makes it a little bit easier. So, yeah, I think we sit with eight right now. We’re looking at 11-plus for next year. So, whether it’s in this year’s draft, next year’s, the ability to move around to acquire the types of players we want to acquire, you have to have those picks to do that.”
Wicks appeared in 14 games for the Packers last season. He finished with 30 receptions for 332 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns.
Wicks has been in the NFL since 2023. He has 108 career receptions for 1,328 receiving yards and 11 receiving touchdowns.
Without Wicks, the Packers currently have Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, Matthew Golden, Savion Williams, Skyy Moore, Jakobie Keeney-James, Isaiah Neyor and Will Sheppard on their roster at wideout for QB Jordan Love to throw to.
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