Former Vikings Starter Retires
Ex-Minnesota Vikings linebacker Jordan Hicks is hanging it up.
A former Minnesota Vikings linebacker, Jordan Hicks, has retired after a 10-year NFL career that included 952 tackles and 131 starts across four teams. He said goodbye this week.
The out-of-nowhere announcement arrived on Friday, with NFL training camps in full swing, leaving the Cleveland Browns to find a replacement and sending Hicks on his way.
That’s a wrap for Hicks.
Retirement Awaits Former Vikings LB Jordan Hicks
The defender said goodbye via Instagram on Friday.
Jordan Hicks Calls It Career
ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi wrote Friday, “Cleveland Browns starting linebacker Jordan Hicks is retiring after 10 seasons in the NFL, he announced on Instagram on Friday morning. Hicks, 33, missed the first two days of training camp with what the team called a personal matter.”
“Hicks was expected to enter his second season in Cleveland as a leader in the middle of the defense, especially given the loss of Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, who was placed on the reserve/physically unable to perform list and will miss the 2025 season because of a neck injury he suffered last October. Hicks’ retirement leaves the Browns without their top-two inside linebackers from the previous season.”
It was quite the development for a Browns team that had Hicks penciled in as a starter for 2025.
A Fantastic Run for the Linebacker
The Philadelphia Eagles plucked Hicks from Round 3 of the 2015 NFL Draft, and he’d remain a starter around the league for 10 seasons. Here’s his full resume with it all said and done:
- Philadelphia Eagles (2015–2018)
- Arizona Cardinals (2019–2021)
- Minnesota Vikings (2022–2023)
- Cleveland Browns (2024)
Hicks logged a surprising-for-his-age 77.4 Pro Football Focus grade in 2024 and hadn’t shown real signs of slowing down into his 30s. In that vein, his retirement feels premature.
Overall, Hicks was arguably at the peak of his powers from 2019 to 2023 with the Cardinals and Vikings. He showed up on the scene in Minneapolis in 2022, played decently under former Minnesota defensive boss Ed Donatell, and totally hit his groove with Brian Flores in 2023.
With Ivan Pace Jr.’s rapid emergence to stardom, along with the free-agent signing of Blake Cashman last offseason, Hicks became the odd man out in Minnesota and signed with Cleveland.
He was a Brown for a year.
Now What for the Browns?
The Browns have a few options at off-ball linebacker after Hicks’ departure. They can promote Mohamoud Diabate, who struggled in 2024. Cleveland can hope that Devin Bush can handle the workload. A former colleague of Brian Flores in Miami, Jerome Baker, is also in the Browns’ roster orbit.
Otherwise, these free agents could make sense for Cleveland:
- Ja’Whaun Bentley
- De’Vondre Campbell
- Kamu Grugier-Hill
- Josey Jewell
- Eric Kendricks
- Jalen Reeves-Maybin
- Kyzir White
BrownWire‘s Cory Kinnan said about Jewell as an option Friday, “Josey Jewell has been a solid linebacker for both the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers throughout his career. He was just released by the Panthers last week and needs a new home. The Browns would make some sense here as they need a tackling machine at the second level, and Jewell fits that bill.”
And on Campbell: “De’Vondre Campbell is a former Pro Bowler. De’Vondre Campbell is also most known for becoming a healthy scratch down the stretch of the 2024 season with the San Francisco 49ers for quitting mid-game and refusing to re-enter. The juice might not be worth the squeeze here.”
For Bentley: “Spending his entire seven-year career with the New England Patriots, Ja’Whaun Bentley has been known to rack up tackle after tackle. The entire premise of drafting Schwesinger in the second round is that defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz wanted a ‘tackling machine.’ This could be a match on paper.”
It’s worth noting that Eric Kendricks has ties to Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski from their days together with the Vikings.
Hicks’ Sign Off
Hicks posted this to Instagram: “After 23 years of playing football, I’m officially retiring from the NFL. Football has given me more than I could have ever imagined.”
“Purpose, discipline, brotherhood, and a platform to impact others. But most importantly, it showed me who I am outside the game. I leave this chapter with deep gratitude for every lesson, challenge, and victory. I’m proud of what I accomplished on the field, but even more proud of the man I’ve become because of it.”
Hicks turned 33 in June.
He continued, “To my teammates, coaches, fans, and most importantly my family.. thank you for your unwavering support throughout this journey. I’m looking forward to this next season of life and all that it brings.”
“I walk away with peace knowing I gave football all I had, and that the best is yet to come.”
The Browns should identify a Hicks replacement via free agency, promotion, or trade in the next couple of weeks. Cleveland’s defense ranked 18th in the NFL last season per EPA/Play, a steep departure after a No. 1 finish in 2023.
Dustin Baker’s New Book ⬇️
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