The Cleveland Browns signed free agent cornerback Troy Hill.
Hill is the second member of the Los Angeles Rams to join Joe Woods’ Browns defensive roster for 2021; the other is John Johnson III.
The #Browns are signing former #Rams CB Troy Hill to a 4-year, $24M deal, source said, adding to their defensive haul in free agency. The Youngstown native, who had three defensive TDs last year, returns home.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 18, 2021
Here are three things to know about Troy Hill.
1. Born In Ohio
Hill was born in Youngstown, Ohio.
He moved around a lot during his youth, something that he believes made him stronger as he grew up.
When asked in 2019 what he learned from making the cross-country move as a child from Ohio to California, Hill said:
“I feel like that prepared me because when I went to college I wasn’t home sick or anything. It was mostly like, all right, I did this. I know how to adapt to it. I know how to get in where I fit in. Make the most of my opportunities and stuff like that. I feel like it kind of made transitions easier for me.”
Hill went to St. Bonaventure High School in Ventura, California and was a member of the Oregon Ducks football team in college.
He comes from a large family and some still hail from Ohio so it is a second homecoming for him.
This homecoming looks to be a longer term commitment.
Hill was an UDFA signed by Cincinnati in May of 2015 but was waived in September 2015.
2. Had A Pick 6 In Week 17 of 2020
Troy Hill takes it back 84 yards. @RamsNFL take the lead! #RamsHouse
📺: #AZvsLAR on CBS
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/fohj8JnptQ pic.twitter.com/SddICNwSIl— NFL (@NFL) January 3, 2021
Hill talked about the 84 yard Pick-6 post game.
“When I first hit it, I noticed it kind of slowed down, so that made it easier. After that, it was just … ball game…As I’m running, that’s a long distance. Your legs start getting heavy, but I had to catch up and get right.”
His teammates were encouraging him during the run, and he nearly lost his footing.
He occasionally heard shouts saying “Somebody’s behind you!”
3. McVay Appreciated His Talent
Though many were talking about John Johnson III and Leonard Floyd as the prominent Rams’ free agents, Coach Sean McVay knew that Troy Hill was a valuable component of the defense also.
He spoke about Hill’s contributions at the end of the season.
“Troy Hill, what can you say about the ball production, scoring the touchdowns that he did, the versatility. I think a lot of the versatility that we were able to activate with Jalen was a reflection of also Troy Hill’s versatility. You feel comfortable, because in a lot of instances, you’re saying you’ve got this elite corner in Jalen Ramsey and then you can bump him inside, but who’s the guy that can play off of that and have the ability to play both positions as well? And Troy certainly enabled us to do that.”
The Rams were limited in their spending with salary cap crunch.
McVay was well aware of that but he added:
“[Hill, Floyd, and Johnson] are really big-time parts of what was the No. 1 defense in the NFL…[All three will be] big-time topics of conversation and things that you want to try to figure out.”
Two months later, the Browns have signed two of the three superstars McVay referred to.
Troy Hill is an exciting addition to the Cleveland Browns defense.
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