The Cardinals have given Jordan Hicks permission to seek a trade (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). The veteran linebacker could still stay on board as a reserve, but his starting job as the MIKE ‘backer has been given to new first-round pick, Zaven Collins. 
It’s not a shock to hear that Collins, the No. 16 overall pick in last month’s draft, is ticketed for the starting lineup. Still, Hicks is a respected figure in the locker room and he’s already taken a pay cut to make the numbers work.
Originally, he was set to have a $9MM cap charge with a $5MM base salary plus bonuses. Now, the 28-year-old (29 in June) is ticketed for a base salary of $2MM with $1MM in per-game bonuses this year for a lighter figure of $6MM. Hicks also reduced his 2022 compensation to a $4.25MM base salary, plus a $750K roster bonus and $1MM in per-game roster bonuses.
Hicks, a former third-rounder, spent the first four seasons of his career with the Eagles before signing a four-year, $36MM deal ($20MM guaranteed) with the Cardinals in 2019. Since then, he’s started all 32 games for Arizona over the past two years, compiling 268 stops, 11 tackles for loss, and 1.5 sacks.
As Rapoport notes, however, a trade is not terribly likely (video link). He believes Hicks will indeed remain in the desert in 2021 as a backup.
Come back to Philly!
I totally thought this was a baseball story for a second…
Everytime I hear his name, I think it’s a baseball story
Screw the Cardinals. What a terrible move. Make the guy take a pay cut, then can him so their books are good? Disgraceful. And the report mentions he’s good dude in the locker room.
Not to mention the fact that Hicks has played pretty well for them.
Wait, so both the football Cardinals and baseball Cardinals have players named Jordan Hicks?
That seems statistically unlikely.
Zach Ertz and 5th from washington for hicks makes alot of sense
This is so crazy it might just work.
Don’t you mean Philadelphia?