The Green Bay Packers wide receiver room was one of the deepest groups entering the 2024 NFL season. After the 2024 season transpired, there happened to be more questions than answers about the wide receivers.
No wide receiver on Green Bay’s roster has gone over 1,000 yards during the last two seasons. Dontayvion Wicks has been with this franchise for two seasons and is entering his third season. Wicks showed a lot of promise during his rookie season, but a lot of disappointment occurred with him during his second NFL season. Is there a chance that he will be on Green Bay’s roster before the 2025 season, or will they trade him elsewhere instead?
NFL Analyst Thinks That the Green Bay Packers Should Trade Away Wide Receiver Dontayvion Wicks To the Arizona Cardinals
Seth Walder of espn.com created different mock trades before the 2025 NFL season begins. He had the Packers involved in two mock trades. Another trade Walder had Green Bay involved in potentially is having them send wide receiver Wicks to the Arizona Cardinals for a 2026 fourth-round pick. Walder said about this potential mock trade,
“In this second trade, the Packers could mitigate the cost of the Thibodeaux move by dealing from their own position of surplus. Even with Christian Watson presumably sidelined for the beginning of the season after tearing his ACL in January, the Packers’ depth chart still boasts Jayden Reed, first-round pick Matthew Golden, Romeo Doubs, rookie third-round pick Savion Williams and Wicks.
Thus, they can afford to part with Wicks, a 2023 fifth-round pick who hasn’t put it all together despite showing potential. Over his first two seasons in Green Bay, he has recorded 996 receiving yards (1.8 yards per route run). That puts him behind Reed (2.3 yards per route run in the same span) and Watson (2.0) but ahead of Doubs (1.6).
Arizona is in the opposite situation. After Marvin Harrison Jr., the Cardinals’ wide receiver room features Zay Jones, Michael Wilson and Greg Dortch — a fairly lackluster group. Trey McBride emerged as another top option last season, but another wide receiver could complement (and hopefully help unlock) Harrison, who had a mediocre first season in the league relative to his predraft hopes.
Wicks’ raw numbers undersell his upside in my opinion, and Arizona would be making a bet to that effect. In ESPN’s receiver scores last year, Wicks recorded an 84 open score but a zero catch score — the lowest one can have — after an astounding 10 drops on 76 targets.
If I’m betting on one of those two numbers to sustain into the future, it’s the open score over the drops (openness is more stable from year-to-year than catch score). There are no guarantees, however, so Green Bay would opt for a future asset instead of letting Wicks’ development play out on its roster. Meanwhile, Arizona would wager that Wicks can hit a higher gear and boost the offense over the next couple of seasons.”
Wicks is projected to be the fifth receiver on the Packers roster. There might not be room for him to see game action in 2025 for Green Bay. Reed, Golden, and Doubs will be the starters. Williams is projected to be the fourth wide receiver for the Packers. With Wicks being fifth, he would benefit from being the second or third wide receiver in Arizona.
Going from quarterback Jordan Love to Kyler Murray would not be an issue for Wicks. Arizona is trying to improve its wide receiver room outside of Harrison. The Cardinals are looking to make noise in the NFC in Jonathan Gannon’s third season as head coach. Even if Green Bay parted ways with Wicks, Matt LaFleur and the team will be fine offensively.
During the 2024 season, Wicks caught 39 passes for 415 yards receiving and five touchdowns, along with averaging 10.6 yards per reception. He was targeted 76 times last season and Wicks had a case of dropping passes. However, Green Bay may not want to get rid of him, but a stacked wide receiver room may leave them no choice but to trade Wicks to a team like the Cardinals in order to give him a chance to be a full-time starting wide receiver.
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