The Arizona Cardinals are gambling that second-year pro Zaven Collins will be ready to take over for Jordan Hicks in 2022.
It was not surprising in the least when the Arizona Cardinals announced on Wednesday that they were parting ways with linebacker Jordan Hicks. After all, the club gained $6.5 million worth of salary-cap space by waving goodbye to the 29-year-old defender.
Finances aside, the Cards front office did defensive coordinator Vance Joseph no favors by releasing Hicks. The organization thought they could replace the eighth-year pro with rookie Zaven Collins in 2021, but the first-round draft pick couldn’t cut the mustard. Arizona is obviously banking on the 22-year-old to step up and take over for Hicks this year, but major question marks are still surrounding the youngster.
Collins showed nothing last fall that would make anyone believe that he’s ready to take on such a huge responsibility for the Cardinals. In his 17 appearances (six starts) for the squad, the former University of Tulsa product was credited with 25 tackles and three pass breakups. Rest assured, general manager Steve Keim and company were expecting much more out of Collins when they nabbed him with the 16th-overall selection of last year’s draft.
Jordan Hicks was fresh off of an outstanding season for the Arizona Cardinals
Hicks, on the other hand, is coming off of a fabulous campaign for the Redbirds. In 17 starts, the former Philadelphia Eagles draft choice tallied 116 tackles, five pass breakups, and a career-high four sacks. Hicks racked up an eye-popping 150 tackles for the Cards in 2019 and another 118 for the team in 2020.
Replacing that type of production will be far from easy. It would be irresponsible for the Arizona coaching staff to expect that kind of performance out of Collins in just his second NFL campaign.
Perhaps Keim could attempt to bring Hicks back at a lower salary. Having the former University of Texas product around as an insurance policy would be highly beneficial, especially if Collins turns out to be a bust.
For salary cap purposes, the release of Hicks looks like a no-brainer. If Collins falters, however, the Cardinals could find themselves wishing that the productive and experienced Hicks was still on the roster.