The talented safety signed his restricted free-agent tender Thursday, guaranteeing that he will be back in a Ravens uniform this year. The original-round tender works as a one-year contract for Hill, which will pay him $1.542 million in 2015.
The Ravens tendered the 25-year-old safety at the lowest level, but they still had the right of first refusal if another team tried to sign him. The deadline was April 24 for Hill to sign an offer sheet with another team.
Hill is entering his fourth NFL season and second in Baltimore. He emerged as a starter last season after serving a six-game suspension to open the year, and he finished with 42 tackles, four passes defensed and one interception.
He had bright spots during his first year with the Ravens, including a critical interception return for touchdown in a Monday Night Football victory over the New Orleans Saints.
“He has a lot of talent, and it’s something that we always knew,” Head Coach John Harbaugh said after the season.
He is expected to be a starting safety this year along with free-agent acquisition
Hill was originally an undrafted prospect out of Florida who spent his first two years of his career with the New York Giants. He started 10 games in New York, but was suspended for a total of 14 games for violating the league’s substance abuse policies.
The Ravens challenged Hill after the season to stay out of trouble off the field.
“We put it on his plate a little bit,” Harbaugh said in January. “We’re challenging him for the next three or four months. ‘Are you going to come back a better player than you were when you left here in January, and is that slate going to be clean?’ We fully expect it to be.”
Hill is now back in Baltimore participating in the Ravens’ voluntary conditioning program.
He was the last restricted free agent to sign his tender, as kicker
