With ban set, Hill is released
Suspension, glut at safety are likely factors
When Will Hill signed a two-year, $7?million contract extension with the Ravens in August, he spoke of wanting to reward the organization's faith and making sure that the off-the-field problems that nearly ended his career stayed in his past.
Hill, however, couldn't hold up his end of the bargain and now his NFL career is again in jeopardy. Hill has been suspended 10 games for violating the NFL's substance-abuse policy, according to industry sources. It is Hill's fourth suspension since he came into the league in 2012.
The NFL hasn't officially announced the suspension.
Hill, 26, was informed by the Ravens of his release Wednesday before his pending suspension surfaced. However, the team presumably was aware of it. Team officials were clear with Hill that he couldn't afford any missteps when they signed him in July 2014 after he was released by the New York Giants and facing his third suspension in as many years.
The pending suspension made the Ravens' decision to release Hill, which opens approximately $3 million of salary cap space, an easy one. Still, his suspension is a significant disappointment and not only because he is the second member of the 2015 Ravens to be suspended this offseason for an extensive stretch. Second-year tight end Nick Boyle also faces a 10-game ban to start the 2016 season for violating the league's policy on performance-enhancing drugs.
The organization had worked hard with Hill the past two years to provide support. When he signed his extension last year, Hill said he spoke with general manager Ozzie Newsome every day. Harbaugh mentioned the strides Hill had made off the field.
He moved out of the West Orange area in New Jersey where he was from and often found trouble, and lived near the team's training facility in Owings Mills. Hill's brother and young daughter attended nearly every one of the Ravens' training camp practices last summer. Hill spoke several times of becoming a homebody and avoiding the temptations that derailed him in the past.
That, however, apparently proved too challenging, and now the safety will be forced to the sideline again.
After going undrafted out of Florida, largely because of off-the-field red flags, Hill was suspended in each of his first three NFL seasons.
He was banned in 2012 for four games for using Adderall. A year later, he got another four-game suspension for violating the league's substance-abuse policy. The Giants released him after he was banned for the first six games of the 2014 season for again violating the league's substance-abuse policy.
Hill was arrested in 2013 for allegedly failing to pay child support, and a warrant was issued for his arrest in New Jersey last year for outstanding child support payments.
A starter for 14 games last season, Hill's biggest impact in 2015 came on a special teams play. In a Week 12 game against the Cleveland Browns, Hill scooped up the football after Brent Urban blocked a field-goal attempt and returned it 64 yards for a game-winning touchdown with no time on the clock.
Hill finished the season with 64 tackles, one interception, one sack and a career-high six passes defended. However, like the rest of the Ravens secondary, Hill struggled to make game-changing plays and create turnovers. When Webb started playing more safety late in the season, Hill found himself on the sideline more and more.
In two seasons with the Ravens, he played in 26 games, starting 22. He had 104 tackles, two interceptions and 10 passes defended.
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