Dontayvion

Wicks

This is unfortunate. Smith dealt with a hamstring injury back in August, but rehabbed it successfully before the season began. The Eagles have an extra day to rest, with their Week 3 game against the Bears airing as this week’s Monday Night Football game, but he must be treated as questionable to play at this time. Eagles WR Dontayvion Wicks would handle No. 1 wide receiver duties if Smith cannot play.

It sounds like Smith may end up being listed as a limited participant. We will learn more when the injury report comes out later today. Hopefully, this is just veteran rest as the Eagles gear up for a Week 3 Monday Night Football game against the Bears. Eagles WR Dontayvion Wicks took a hard fall in Week 2 and missed a few plays. He later told reporters that he “will be good.” If Wicks is indeed good and Smith is not, Wicks would operate as the receiving corps’ top option.

The 74 yards were the fifth most of Wicks’ career, putting him one ahead of the 73 he posted in his first game as an Eagle last week. The former Packer is off to a great Philly start from a compiling standpoint, though he did lose snaps to Darius Cooper as the game wore on this afternoon. Hopefully that was for some inscrutable matchup-based reason. Wicks can rug pull with the best of them, so despite the two strong efforts to begin the year, he should be considered more of a WR5 than WR4 heading into Week 3 in Chicago.

Wicks came up with the biggest play of the day for either team when he hauled in a 64-yard pass in the first quarter from Jalen Hurts. Wicks came down with a pass that traveled over 40 yards in the air after Commanders CB Mike Sainristil lost track of it, and ran for another 20-plus yards before being brought down on the Commanders’ six-yard line, eventually setting up a touchdown by Dallas Goedert. In the second quarter, Wicks would again break free from Sainristil, this time in the end zone to secure a nine-yard touchdown. Wicks ran as the Eagles’ WR2 in this one, with his 48 snaps and 31 routes run ranking second only to DeVonta Smith. That said, his low target total leaves plenty to be desired, making him hard to trust in Week 2’s game against the Titans.

Fowler noted that Wicks has been taking advantage of his extra opportunities with both DeVonta Smith and Makai Lemon sidelined. Philly traded for Wicks this offseason and even added an additional year to his contract after making the move. Wicks played under new OC Sean Mannion in Green Bay, giving him some extra familiarity with the offense. He may still be stuck with a No. 3 role once Lemon and Smith are healthy, but Wicks should produce the occasional spike week as the team’s deep ball specialist.

Wicks should slot in as the Eagles WR behind DeVonta Smith, Kempski said, because the former Packer is “younger, the Eagles invested more in him than they did in [Marquise] Brown, he is under contract for two years vs. one for Brown, and he seemingly already has the trust of offensive coordinator Sean Mannion.” The Eagles acquired Wicks from Green Bay this month in exchange for a 2026 fifth round draft pick and a 2027 sixth rounder. He had 108 receptions, 1,328 yards, and 11 touchdowns over three seasons with the Packers, operating mostly as a high-variance downfield threat. Kempski described Wicks as “a hard-nosed, rugged player who offers far more as a blocker in the run game than [A.J.] Brown does. How much that actually should matter is debatable, but my sense is that it will matter a lot in this new scheme.”

ESPN’s Adam Schefter breaks the news, adding that Wicks will now sign a one-year, $12.5 million extension with the Eagles. Over the last four weeks, they also signed WR Hollywood Brown and WR Elijah Moore as well. Schefter reminds us that if the Eagles were to trade away WR A.J. Brown, that would probably happen after June 1st, “when the cap burden would be more manageable for the Eagles.” As things currently stand, Wicks will likely compete for WR3 duties. The trade also leaves Packers WR Christian Watson, WR Jayden Reed and WR Matthew Golden as the team’s top-three options after allowing WR Romeo Doubs to sign with the Patriots last month. The Eagles tacked on an additional year to Wicks’ contract after the deal, tying him to the franchise through the 2027 season. The extension includes $12.5 million in maximum money with $9 million guaranteed.

We don’t really believe Thomas is on the table unless the Jets are going to give up a first and more, but Wicks is an attainable option for the Jets. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported that Wicks is available in trade ahead of free agency. Wicks is entering the final year of his rookie contract and isn’t considered a building block for the Packers, so he’d probably only cost a Day 3 pick if the Jets were interested.

Bateman had a disastrous season, managing just 224 yards and 38 targets in 12 starts. It would be surprising if the Ravens were able to get real value for him on the trade market. He’s under contract through 2030. No, really. Johnston is probably the most viable trade target of these three, but he didn’t exactly shake his reputation for inconsistency last season even if he did perform better than his first two years in the league.

Initially questionable, Wicks did not clear concussion protocol today and has been downgraded to out. It’s a small silver of hope for Matthew Golden to be involved in the game plan against the Bears, though he certainly isn’t a recommended play given how his season went.