Bengals Roster Breakdown: Trey Hill looks to round out Cincinnati's offensive line one more time

Throughout the summer leading up to the regular season, we will go through the entire 2024 Cincinnati Bengals roster. Every single day until the season opener against the New England Patriots, we will break down a player on the roster including his background, contract status, and path towards making the team.Today, we focus on center […]

John Sheeran — Cincinnati Bengals News Writer
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Trey Hill
© Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports

Throughout the summer leading up to the regular season, we will go through the entire 2024 Cincinnati Bengals roster. Every single day until the season opener against the New England Patriots, we will break down a player on the roster including his background, contract status, and path towards making the team.

Today, we focus on center Trey Hill. The former sixth-round pick didn't play or dress for a single game last season, and yet was on the active roster for all 17 games. That's a rare situation to go through for any player, and odds point to that not happening again this season. The next four weeks will be crucial in deciding how his year ends up.

Trey Hill

  • Age: 24
  • Year: 4th
  • Position: Center
  • College: Georgia
  • Previous Teams: None
  • Jersey Number: 63

Hill was drafted by the Bengals with the 190th overall pick in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft. He played three years in college at Georgia, emerging as a starter in the final four games of his true freshman season at right guard. Guard was what he was recruited as after playing left tackle in high school, but Georgia moved him further inside to center for his sophomore year in 2019. He started all 14 games at center that season and allowed just one sack and one quarterback hit. He would start eight games at the position during the shortened COVID-19 season in 2020, but also missed two games with injury. He went on to have surgery to repair a torn meniscus in both of his knees. 

Despite his late-round draft status, Hill won the backup center job in Cincinnati as a rookie in 2021, but his first appearance on offense came at right guard in Week 6. He also repped at center in that game and the next week. He finished his rookie season with three starts and 210 snaps played along with 82 snaps on field goal kicking, but was also flagged six times in four different games played. 

The Bengals would sign Ted Karras the following offseason to start at center, and the durable veteran has barely missed time for Hill to see the field on offense. Hill continued to rep on special teams during 2022, but he's only played seven offensive snaps since the start of 2022 season and was inactive for the entire 2023 campaign after Mac Scharping overtook him as the backup center. 

Contract details

Hill is in the final year of his four-year, $3,672,356 rookie contract. He will earn a base salary of $1,055,000 for the 2024 season.

When adding on the $192,356 signing bonus that's been prorated throughout the entirety of his deal, Hill's cap hit for the season will be $1,103,089.

Roster chances

Cincinnati has held onto Hill for three years and have him under contract for one more go round if they please. Scharping is no longer on the team, but a new challenger is in town as seventh-round pick Matt Lee looks to backup Karras this season.

Lee is in the same spot as Hill was three years ago, and many believed him to be a steal for a seventh-rounder. There's a real chance he outplays Hill in training camp and during the preseason if he's given enough reps.

There's also scenario in which both Hill and Lee make the team even if the offense goes light at offensive line. Five starters along with the loser of the Trent Brown/Amarius Mims battle, Cody Ford, and both Hill and Lee give them nine, which would mean both Jackson Carman and D'Ante Smith get their pink slips. If one of Carman and Smith stay on, then Hill and or Lee would be on the bubble to get to nine. For reference, Hill made the team as the 10th o-lineman last year.

Hill's main goal next month will be to retake the backup center gig. Even if he loses to Lee, there's still room for him to finish out his rookie deal with the Bengals. 

Chances of making the roster: 55%

Previous player breakdowns

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