Minnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah‘s “competitive rebuild” is near completion entering the summer months ahead of the 2022 season.
Extending Kirk Cousins and restructuring veterans Adam Thielen and Harrison Smith‘s contracts to create short-term cap space to sign veteran defenders and offensive linemen to help the Vikings win now. He also fortified several positions groups through the draft with high-upside athletes who could contribute this season.
However, one area remains a chief concern to ESPN analyst Bill Barnwell, who suggested the Vikings sign a former rival Pro Bowl talent.
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Barnwell Urges Vikings to Sign Akiem Hicks
In an article published on May 26, Barnwell took inventory of Minnesota’s offseason and commended Adofo-Mensah for a “measured, logical” first offseason as Vikings general manager.
Inheriting a playoff-caliber roster, Adofo-Mensah opted to keep the team primarily intact and fill the roster with defensive players who can become the foundation of defensive coordinator Ed Donatell’s 3-4 base scheme.
Donatell will task three defensive linemen to fill holes and stop the run after Minnesota had kept four defensive linemen up front for over a decade. This calls for big defensive tackles, especially the nose tackle who should warrant two blockers on him at all times.
The Vikings’ woes on defense the past two seasons have come with an inability to stop the run first and foremost, allowing the sixth and seventh-most rushing yards in the league in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Minnesota doesn’t have many linemen who weigh north of 300 pounds that can fill the Linval Joseph role at nose tackle other than Dalvin Tomlinson, at 6-foot-3 and 320 pounds.
Barnwell suggested the Vikings sign depth on the defensive line, suggesting former Chicago Bears Pro Bowl defensive tackle Akiem Hicks could fill that role.
“Minnesota needs depth along its defensive line, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Vikings add a veteran piece in free agency or during training camp cuts. I wonder if they would reach out to Akiem Hicks or Eddie Goldman, both of whom played in a similar style of defense in Chicago to what the Vikings will run under Ed Donatell,” Barnwell wrote.
Hicks has been a bane to the Vikings over the years as a disruptor of Dalvin Cook‘s effectiveness in the offense. But after missing 18 games in the past three seasons due to a variety of lower body and elbow injuries, Hicks was cut loose by the new regime in Chicago.
Hicks, like Joseph, hasn’t always had the flashiest numbers in his career but garnered Pro Bowl honors in 2018. He also put together a full season of work in 2020, tallying 49 tackles and 3.5 sacks in 16 games.
Donatell served as Chicago’s defensive backs coach from 2015 to 2018. A Hicks-Donatell reunion would make sense for the pair who could seek revenge on their former team twice this upcoming season.
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Eddie Goldman a More Reliable Option
While the idea of Hicks joining the Vikings has appeal given his decorated career, Goldman could be the more reliable option at this stage in both players’ careers.
Goldman, 27, has many years in his prime left, while Hicks, 32, is in the moonlight of his career.
However, the Vikings may not need Hicks to play 40 snaps a game and could deploy him for early-down work and keep his health in check. It would also be beneficial on Minnesota’s books to try to secure Hicks to a deal with that in mind.
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