4 Vikings who won't be back in 2024 after missing the playoffs

2. Jordan Hicks, LB

It was abundantly clear how important Jordan Hicks was to Brian Flores' defense in Minnesota when the veteran linebacker was forced out of action and the Vikings were forced to take the field without him. The defense dropped off and, perhaps just as notably, when Hicks made his shocking return for the final few games of the regular season after many thought his year was over, the defense ticked back up.

Hicks, however, raises a ton of questions moving forward. He'll be 32 years old at the start of the 2024 season and, despite his stellar play in Flores' system this past year, the fact of the matter is that it's an outlier. Coming into Week 18 against the Lions, Hicks graded out at 75.0 according to PFF ($). That is the veteran's highest PFF grade in a single season since 2018 and the only time he's graded above 66.7 in that span.

So is Flores the secret sauce to get things rolling for Hicks in the twilight of his career, or is this simply an outlier and one last gasp for Hicks before he trends back to being an average or below-average player at the position?

Given his experience, I imagine that many teams will be in the market for Hicks, who is scheduled to hit free agency this offseason. Subsequently, that could raise his price on the open market. For a Vikings team that already has some financial hurdles to overcome or consider this offseason, paying up to retain a linebacker who, frankly, is a bit of a gamble would not be the wisest use of resources.