If you want to get a better idea of how desperate the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are to inject any form of life into their moribund defense, look no further than one roster move the team made headed into a Week 12 game against the New York Giants.
Just a few weeks after signing him to the practice squad, the Buccaneers promoted veteran cornerback Troy Hill to the active roster on November 18 — Hill played for the Carolina Panthers the last 2 seasons.
“The Bucs made a roster move on Monday, signing cornerback Troy Hill to the active roster from the practice squad and waiving safety Kaevon Merriweather,” Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds wrote. “The 33-year old Hill was signed to Tampa Bay’s practice squad on October 30. The Bucs have been playing without starting cornerback Jamel Dean since he injured his hamstring in Week 6 at New Orleans and was placed on injured reserve. Dean returned to practice on Monday as the team opened his 21-day practice window and he said he felt great and did a lot of running during the bye week to work on his cardio and conditioning with the expectation that he’ll come off I.R. and start on Sunday at New York against the Giants.”
Hill led the NFL in defensive touchdowns in 2020 and has played 119 career games for 6 different teams since starring at Oregon in the mid-2010s. He last played for the
Hill Carved Out NFL Career After Going Undrafted
Going undrafted out of Oregon in 2015 didn’t stop Hill from crafting out a decade-long NFL career.
Hill played for 3 teams as a rookie with the Cincinnati Bengals, New England Patriots and St. Louis Rams before catching on, and lasted 6 seasons with the Rams and moved with the team to Los Angeles.
In 2020, Hill had his best NFL season with the Rams, starting all 16 games with career highs in tackles (77), pass deflections (10), fumble recoveries (2) and interceptions (3) while racking up 119 interception return yards and leading the NFL with 2 defensive touchdowns.
In an interesting pro sports quirk, Hill also made a nice chunk of cash in 2020 when he switched jersey numbers twice. He was paid $32,000 to give up his No. 32 jersey to free agent safety Eric Weddle and switched to No. 20 … which he was paid $20,000 to give up for cornerback Jalen Ramsey after a midseason trade.
Hill’s big season in 2020 led to the biggest payday of his career when he signed a 2-year, $9 million contract with the Cleveland Browns in March 2021.
Buccaneers Clinging to Playoff Hopes
The Buccaneers are 4-6 after 4 consecutive losses and clinging to their playoff hopes after a spate of injuries and fielding one of the NFL’s worst defenses.
How bad have the Buccaneers been on that side of the ball? Headed into Week 12, they are ranked 31st in the NFL in team defense and have given up 21 passing touchdowns through 10 games — 30th in the NFL.
One thing the Buccaneers have going for them is that they’ve been in this position before. They were 6-8 in 2022 and rallied to finish the season 8-9 and sneak into the NFC Wild Card Round. The Buccaneers were 4-7 in 2023 before they went on a late-season run to finish 9-8 and win the NFC South Division.
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Buccaneers Place Former NFC West Standout on 53-Man Active Roster