Chicago Bears: Akiem Hicks’ Instagram is suddenly concerning

Wednesday night, the Chicago Bears agreed to terms with a player who could end up being a replacement for fan-favorite Akiem Hicks.

When the team signed former Arizona Cardinals defensive lineman Angelo Blackson, some began to wonder what that meant for the future of Akiem Hicks — and for good reason. Blackson was a very good player for the Cardinals last year, putting together arguably his best season as a pro.

Thursday morning, Brad Biggs of The Chicago Tribune spoke on 670 The Score, giving fans even more cause for concern. Biggs stated he heard overnight that Hicks was on the trade block.

To throw one more big piece of evidence out there, fans began snooping across social media and didn’t have to look far for more reason to be worried.

Looks like Akiem Hicks Instagram no longer reads member of Chicago Bears.

Sometimes, players switch up their social media profiles for no reason at all. Many want to weed out a bunch of older photos or even begin fresh. For Akiem Hicks, he still has photos of himself in a Bears uniform. That said, he also has photos of him in a Saints uniform too. The only thing that allegedly changed is his bio — which is supposed to tell people who he is, essentially.

If Hicks no longer labels himself a member of the Bears, that is cause for major concern.

Look, the facts are clear. His injuries over the past couple of seasons are definitely tough to look past. He’s on the wrong side of 30 years old. His cap hit is $12 million this season and it’s the last year of his contract. There is plenty of reason to believe the Bears wouldn’t re-sign him next year.

Still, if the Bears were at all in the business of trying to win in 2021, they would keep Akiem Hicks on the roster. Without him, the run defense, in particular, is much, much worse. It’s like clockwork. If Hicks is out, the Bears get gashed on the ground.

Then again, if the Chicago Bears were in the business of trying to win in 2021, they probably wouldn’t have settled for Andy Dalton earlier in the week. Instead, doing everything they can to move up and draft a top quarterback this year would have been the better move — which is still in the cards, mind you.

For now, we wait and see. What ends up happening with Akiem Hicks seems inevitable at this stage in the game. For a source like Biggs to come out and say he heard Hicks is on the trade block means that this is a legitimate report. He doesn’t come out and say things like that if they are not concrete.

Biggs is one of the more trustworthy Bears sources and has been for years now. If he’s right, Akiem Hicks’ days as a Bear are severely numbered.