The Vikings agreed to a two-year deal with former Cardinals linebacker Jordan Hicks on Tuesday, bolstering their efforts to revamp the front seven and could reflect the end of the Mike Zimmer era’s signature linebacker partnership.
Hicks, whose contract is valued at $12 million for the next two seasons, is joining the team after Arizona released him on Saturday. The Vikings see him as a linebacker with three positions for new defensive coordinator Ed Donatella’s scheme. Hicks will likely line up alongside Eric Kendricks in the Vikings’ new 3-4 basic defense. But if he takes the field with Kendricks in nickel packs, he will likely take the place of Anthony Barr, the team’s 2014 first-round pick and a close friend of Kendricks since they were teammates at UCLA. Angeles.
Barr is due to become a free agent on Wednesday after the Vikings waived the last two years of his contract in exchange for last year’s cap savings. If Barr, who turns 30 on Friday, returns to the Vikings, he may have to do so in a team-friendly deal with the Vikings.
“It’s been a crazy ride for me and AB. I’m still thinking about it right now, you know what I mean?” Kendricks said January 10 while trying to hold back tears. “He came this year, and at the beginning of the year he fell again. [because of knee surgery]. It pained me to see him hurt, especially considering all the work he had done. But for the last rest of the season, he played so hard and proved to be an elite player in this league. It’s just… it made me happy, you know what I mean? Very happy. Especially yesterday when it closed. This is my boyfriend”.
There may still be more moves involving the Vikings mainstay as the team tries to clear cap space before the league year starts at 3 p.m. Wednesday. But in their current form, Hicks and Kendricks could be the Vikings’ inside linebackers.
Hicks started all 17 games for the Cardinals last season, hitting four sacks. He could have signed with the team before the start of the league season on Wednesday, and that won’t affect the Vikings’ chances of getting a compensatory pick in 2023.
The team is also hopeful that Hicks can bring an element of defensive leadership into the transition.
Hicks joins the team after the Vikings brought in former Bills defenseman Harrison Phillips on Monday. The team released Michael Pierce’s defensive tackle after agreeing terms with Phillips.