5 best moves of the Cleveland Browns 2021 offseason

4. Signing Troy Hill

Kevin Johnson was signed to fill the role of slot cornerback last season, and wasn’t great. The slot position is absolutely a starting position in today’s NFL, which is why Berry made it a priority to secure one of the league’s top guys there in Hill.

Over the past two campaigns, no starter has earned a higher coverage grade from the slot than Hill’s 89.8 mark. That’s exactly what the doctor ordered for this secondary.

There has been quite a bit of discussion about Hill potentially starting on the outside opposite Denzel Ward and then moving inside when needed. This is because he’s played a good amount of snaps outside for the Los Angeles Rams, and only moved inside full-time in 2020.

However, Hill is a significantly less effective player outside, earning just a 43.9 overall grade on wide snaps last season. Keeping him on the inside is the best course of action, and if the CB group is healthy, both Greedy Williams and Greg Newsome II should be higher on the depth chart than Hill outside.

Initial reports were that Hill had signed for $24 million over four years, but his deal is essentially $9 million for two seasons, with an out after one. The Browns aren’t committing hard to Hill, which is a good idea given his age (he’ll turn 30 in August) and relatively limited sample size in the slot. He can easily be kept around for longer if the team should want to go that route, or he can be a one or two-year stopgap.

Regardless, Hill should provide a major upgrade in the slot and this secondary needed that in the worst way.