Believe it or not, former Bears defensive lineman Akiem Hicks still remains unsigned on the free agent market. He’s one of the league’s best remaining free agents, where you’d expect he’ll find a new home soon.
For a minute, Bears fans were hoping a return to Chicago was in play. They were left speculating about Hicks’ potential return to Chicago after he posted and then quickly deleted this image on Instagram:
Akiem Hicks just posted this on Instagram 👀 pic.twitter.com/Bh2Uzmm7YV
— Daniel Greenberg (@ChiSportUpdates) May 18, 2022
It wouldn’t be the first time an athlete got ahead of things and posted something before it became official and had to delete it. So, naturally, it was a topic of speculation for several hours. Was Hicks returning to Chicago? Or, even more shocking, was he heading to their rivals in Green Bay?
Hicks took to Twitter to clear things up explaining that “I didn’t mean to get your hopes up.” Simply put, there’s no impending signing with the Bears. Hicks was looking through old photos on his way to the gym, and he appears to have accidentally posted one.
My bad yaw. I didn’t mean to get your hopes up. I was just lookin through some old pictures on the way to the gym. pic.twitter.com/VJuE0kZ4Xb
— akiem hicks (@The_Dream99) May 19, 2022
The Bears lost three starters along the defensive line this offseason in Hicks, Eddie Goldman and Bilal Nichols. Chicago’s only addition to the interior of the defensive line was Justin Jones as the starting three-technique. Re-signing Hicks, at an affordable price, is something you’d hope general manager Ryan Poles has considered. Simply put, the Bears were better when Hicks was on the field.
But it doesn’t sound like Hicks is returning to the Bears after all. At least not right now.
