Tag: Mike Hilton

Bengals $7 million bargain defender predicted to cut ties with Cincy, join Cowboys

The Cowboys might be shopping for slot corners in the offseason and the Bengals’ Mike Hilton could be a great fit.

The Dallas Cowboys have enjoyed employing one of the league’s top slot corners for several seasons. After escaping the weird-dimension doghouse of former secondary coach and passing-game coordinator Kris Richard, the former Michigan Wolverine has steadily filled his resume with outstanding seasons.

However Lewis is on a one-year deal and the eight-year veteran is once again going to be a free agent this coming offseason. If the Cowboys don’t bring Lewis back, which is a huge if considering the status of the coaching staff, then the rebuild may look elsewhere for veteran leadership at the slot. That might make Mike Hilton a top consideration during 2025 free agency.

At least, that’s the thought process of Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox, who predicted the Bengals slot corner would join Dallas next spring.

Hilton possesses a tremendous combination of ball skills, awareness, physicality and reactionary speed. He’s appeared in eight games this season, played 67 percent of the defensive snaps and allowed an opposing passer rating of only 69.3 in coverage.

An overlooked part of Hilton’s game is his ability to disrupt plays via the blitz. He has recorded 16 tackles for loss since the start of last season and logged a pair of sacks in 2023.

Despite his size, Hilton has flashed an impressive ability to work through blocks and disrupt the backfield throughout his NFL career.

Dallas has Trevon Diggs signed to a long-term deal and has another year of cheap control of DaRon Bland. Assuming the former continues to recover from his lost 2023 season due to an ACL tear and the latter can get over the foot injury that’s wiped out his 2024 campaign to this point, slot is the only real consideration for the cornerback group in 2025.

Ravens vs. Bengals: Top photos from Baltimore’s 41-38 win in overtime at Paycor Stadium

We’re looking at the top photos from the Baltimore Ravens 41-38 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in overtime at Paycor Stadium in Week 5

Lamar Jackson and company rallied from a late fourth-quarter deficit to force overtime with a 56-yard field goal from Justin Tucker. In overtime, the Bengals recovered a Jackson fumble but could not win it after Evan McPherson missed a 56-yard field goal of his win.

At one point in the fourth quarter, Joe Burrow was 27-for-34 for 353 yards and five touchdown passes, while former college teammate Ja’Marr Chase had nine catches for 174 yards and two scores.

Burrow finished 30-39 passing for 392 yards, five touchdowns, and one costly interception. His MVP counterpart, Lamar Jackson, was 26-42 passing for 348 yards and four touchdowns. Jackson also had 12 carries for 56 yards on the day.

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Joe Burrow dominates early, but Ravens rally for a 41-38 win over Bengals in overtime

Joe Burrow dominates early, but Ravens rally for a 41-38 win over Bengals in overtime

After a week of pundits and experts questioning Joe Burrow’s demise, the former LSU star put the NFL back on notice with a dominant, five-touchdown performance against the Baltimore Ravens at Paycor Stadium.

Still, it wasn’t enough, as Lamar Jackson and company rallied from a late fourth-quarter deficit to force overtime with a 56-yard field goal from Justin Tucker. In overtime, the Bengals recovered a Lamar Jackosn fumble but were unable to win it after Evan McPherson missed a 56-yard field goal of his win.

Baltimore used a big Derrick Henry run to get into field goal position, and Justin Tucker’s 24 field goals gave the Ravens their third straight win.

At one point in the fourth quarter, Burrow was 27-for-34 for 353 yards and five touchdown passes, while former college teammate Ja’Marr Chase had nine catches for 174 yards and two scores against a Ravens secondary full of first-round picks and high-paid defenders.

Burrow finished 30-39 passing for 392 yards, five touchdowns, and one costly interception. His MVP counterpart, Lamar Jackson, was 26-42 passing for 348 yards and four touchdowns. Jackson also had 12 carries for 56 yards on the day.

After a slow start, Derrick Henry finished things with a bang, rushing for 91 yards on 15 carries, with one rushing touchdown.

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Bengals’ key defender is a sudden injury question mark vs. Ravens

The Bengals will stand a much better chance vs. Ravens if this trusted veteran can play.

The Cincinnati Bengals have received plenty of good news this week on the defensive side of the ball.

Lou Anarumo’s unit, after all, has gotten some good news on the Trey Hendrickson injury and the comeback status of a few important names.

But it seems like the secondary could miss a key player.

For the first two days of prep before Cincinnati’s Week 5 showdown with the Baltimore Ravens, cornerback Mike Hilton has been out. As noted by CLNS Media’s Mike Petraglia, he’s had a sleeve on his left knee and leg.

Hilton has been one of the best players on defense this season, as in years prior, while playing 68 percent of the snaps.

And his versatility to line up all over the field, blitz and contain, makes Hilton’s presence especially important against a quarterback like Lamar Jackson.

If Hilton is on a limited snap count or outright can’t go against the Ravens, the Bengals will turn to someone like rookie Josh Newton, while also likely getting more safeties like Jordan Battle and Daijahn Anthony involved in the gameplan.

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Mike Hilton offers thoughts on hyped Bengals rookie Josh Newton

More praise for Josh Newton — from a key name.

Much has been written about Mike Hilton mentoring rookie Josh Newton already for the Cincinnati Bengals.

Ditto for how high the expectations in the building are for Newton.

With May nearing an end and almost all players working in voluntaries though, we’ve got some updated thoughts on the hyped rookie from Hilton himself.

“He’s picking up both positions. He’s communicating well already. We’ll see how he does when someone is across from him,” Hilton said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “He can move his feet and he catches it well.”

Hilton expanded, too: “He has to balance between inside and outside. I don’t want to do too much because he’s got to get one thing down first and then go from there. There’s so much more to inside than outside. You have run fits, blitz patterns, and probably the better route runners are inside. I feel like being inside you need a complete overall game.”

This inside-out versatility is a big part of the reason the Bengals drafted Newton in the first place.

And what’s interesting is that while he figures to stick inside, there’s always a chance things go a different direction depending on how former first-round pick Dax Hill does at cornerback after his position change.

It’s a good problem to have right now and the Bengals are lucky there’s a veteran like Hilton there to help oversee it.

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Mike Hilton recruits major free agent name to Bengals

Mike Hilton does his part to help the Bengals in free agency.

Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Mike Hilton has acted as a recruit for big names in free agency in the past, though he hasn’t been seen doing it much this year.

Until now, that is.

Friday, Hilton popped up on social media and sent a recruiting message to free-agent cornerback Xavien Howard.

Howard, going on 31 years old, only played in 13 games last year while battling injuries and ultimately getting released by Miami. He’s a former All-Pro, though, and the type of possible prove-it deal the Bengals might like. He notably has a link to current defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo after their days with the Dolphins together.

Hilton’s pitch comes on the heels of earlier news that the Bengals submitted an offer to another free agent who chose to sign elsewhere as they seek depth options after Chidobe Awuzie’s departure.

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Bengals’ Mike Hilton recalls ‘Burrowhead’ comments before rematch with Chiefs

Mike Hilton on the infamous trash talk featuring the Chiefs.

Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Mike Hilton created a storm of talk around the AFC title game against the Kansas City Chiefs last year due to his “Burrowhead” comments.

Roughly a year later, he’s more focused on redeeming his on-field play than worrying about how that comment resonates today.

“It doesn’t bother me anymore. I thought about taking it back, but that’s not me,” Hilton said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “I probably had one of the worst games of my career. It’s a humbling experience.”

Hilton went on to say he doesn’t regret the comments, preferring to focus on the team slant: “To go against those guys means a lot. To go there, it means a lot. To re-do my performance from last year would be big. It might help us get in position to win this game. I’m expecting them to come my way . I’ll be ready.”

At the time, Hilton’s comments were merely sideline banter with teammates that cameras happened to pick up, but they erupted into the ultimate form of bulletin board material.

Despite all of the chatter and controversy before the game, it was still a three-point outcome even with one of Hilton’s self-described worst games of his career.

Clearly, redemption for Hilton is less about talk and more about keeping his team’s playoff hopes alive.

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Mike Hilton points out what hurts Bengals most in AFC North battles

Mike Hilton is right about Bengals problems in the AFC North.

The Cincinnati Bengals hit 0-5 in the AFC North with the loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers over the weekend.

As a whole, the Zac Taylor era has seen the Bengals struggle in their own division, though some of those occurred without Joe Burrow or when the franchise quarterback was out injured or limited.

But for veteran cornerback Mike Hilton, the 34-11 blowout was something more problematic.

“Physicality and turnovers. You do those two things, you definitely win the division,” Hilton said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “That’s kind of what happened today. They hit us with some explosives and a couple of turnovers on our side of the 50. We just weren’t able to get off the field defensively when we needed to. I would say we just haven’t played up to our standards, especially in our own division.”

Hilton would know, considering he’s played for multiple teams in the division.

And it’s a point worth considering, too. Typically in the losses, it’s the Bengals losing the battle at the line of scrimmage and one could point to emulating teams like the Chiefs as opposed to prioritizing divisional play that can lead to hiccups like this.

Of course, everything changes with a player like Burrow on the field, but Hilton certainly isn’t wrong in his assessment of the holiday debacle.

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Bengals’ Mike Hilton quietly having another strong season

Mike Hilton is at it again for the Bengals.

Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Mike Hilton continues to quietly have another fantastic season for the Bengals.

One of the best indicators of this is highlighting specific areas of a player’s game. And one of the best around the Bengals this week is the revelation from Pro Football Focus that Hilton has the third-best grade among defensive backs in coverage this year without allowing a touchdown.

It’s especially impressive considering Hilton has largely been the only veteran presence for the secondary this year after the youth movement there.

While things have understandably been far from perfect for the defense as this year’s transition to a younger core went through some growing pains, having Hilton there playing this well has been an overlooked silver lining once again.

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Bengals’ Mike Hilton visits elementary school for good cause

An awesome gesture by Bengals CB Mike Hilton.

Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Mike Hilton recently visited Woodford Academy to help first-graders learn about the game of football.

With a little extra time off before “Monday Night Football” against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Hilton made the stop while working with the company “Future Fans”.

“It was exciting seeing the smile on kids’ faces, knowing I have two kids of my own and knowing how much the youth means to me personally; it’s a blessing to give back,” Hilton, according to WLWT’s Ashley Kirklen.

Hilton has said in the past that he wants to spread the game of football because he knows what an impact it has had on his life. The Future Fans partnership actually started back during Cincinnati’s Super Bowl run and this isn’t the last time this year that Bengals players will visit schools in the area with the same goal.

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