Kelly: One Free Agency Move the Miami Dolphins Should Make
The last two times I watched Akiem Hicks up close and personal he was throwing around Miami Dolphins offensive linemen with ease.
In fact, the first time I really paid attention to the veteran defensive lineman was Miami’s joint practices with the Chicago Bears in 2021.
I vividly remember Hicks dominating the Dolphins offensive line so much during one-on-one and team drills I was ashamed I didn’t enter those practices aware that he was an elite player.
His ability to do whatever he wanted on the football field helped me conclude the Dolphins offensive line as constructed then wasn’t going to cut it.
And I was correct seeing how that unit struggles mightily that season.
The next time I watched Hicks was against Tampa Bay during Miami’s joint practices with the Buccaneers last summer. He pushed Miami’s offensive linemen around then too, but at that point Hicks wasn’t a full-fledged starter with his new team, so he wasn’t going against top-shelf talent consistently.
But I do remember seeing him put Liam Eichenberg on skates, pushing him back into the pocket routinely.
It’s difficult to say what kind of player Hicks is at this point, especially considering he was hindered by a serious foot injury most of last year. But if there was an aged veteran free agent I’d advocate for the Dolphins to sign, it’s this 330-pounder.
And it doesn’t hurt that all three of his best years in the NFL occurred with Vic Fangio in Chicago, where Fangio ran the Bears defense from 2015-18. Hicks produced 23 sacks in a three-year period with Fangio.
Hicks has made the Pro Bowl once in his career and that came under Fangio in 2018 when the Bears had the third-ranked defense in the NFL.
WHY HICKS WOULD SOLVE A DOLPHINS NEED
Most Dolphins fans will wonder why Hicks, who is 33, is a need, and point out that Miami’s defensive line should be stacked once Emmanuel Ogbah makes his return from a triceps injury that prematurely ended his 2022 season.
That claim has some merit to it. But in a 3-4 scheme, not everyone can play wherever, and the nose tackle position happens to be the most important spot in the entire scheme. It’s also one of the hardest spots in football to play, which explains why players who have mastered it, like Keith Traylor did, play well into their mid-30s.
At this time, Raekwon Davis is the only player on Miami’s roster who has proven he can handle taking on consistent double teams, which is a prerequisite of that nose spot.
And let us not pretend that Davis’ play has been sensational during his three seasons in Miami. However, it should also be pointed out that when Davis was sidelined for the early stretch of the 2021 season Miami’s defense struggled against the run.
Can the Dolphins afford to put the team in that position again by not having a quality backup nose tackle on the roster?
With John Jenkins signing with the Las Vegas Raiders last weekend, the Dolphins have a hole in the depth chart to fill.
Miami could be planning to draft a nose tackle in the early rounds. Problem is, the good draft-eligible ones usually go early, and that position typically takes a season or two to master.
And it certainly helps the process when there’s a graybeard on the roster the 300-pound defensive linemen can learn from, like Jenkins was.
At this point, Christian Wilkins and Ogbah will serve as the leaders of that unit.
A presence like Hicks, who has started 121 games and contributed 409 tackles and 41.5 sacks in 149 games, could help on and off the field if the 11-year veteran has 300-500 good snaps in him.
Hick already signed up to play for a Florida team last year, inking an incentive-laden deal worth $8 million with Tampa Bay, so he knows the benefits that come with playing in Florida’s tropical weather and living in a tax-free state.
At the NFL owner’s meetings, Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles said Tampa Bay would like to re-sign Hicks, but there is a chance that money, Miami being a playoff team last year, and an existing relationship with Fangio could lure Hicks to Miami, if that’s what the Dolphins’ decision-makers desire.
And the Dolphins absolutely should want to make this move.
