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Giants Trade Defensive Lineman B.J. Hill to Bengals

Defensive lineman B.J. Hill is headed to the Bengals per a NFL Network report in exchange for offensive lineman Billy Price.

Patricia Traina

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

The Giants have traded defensive lineman B.J. Hill, head coach Joe Judge confirmed Monday.

While Judge didn't provide details on the trade, the NFL Network reported that the trade is with the Cincinnati Bengals for interior offensive lineman Billy Price, a 2018 first-round pick and the 21st overall pick in that draft. The Giants later confirmed that the trade is for Hill and a conditional 2022 seventh-round pick.

Price, 6'4" and 300 pounds, played his college ball at Ohio State, where in the 2017 season, he won the Rimington Trophy as the best collegiate center.

The Bengals initially acquired him with a pick from the Bills along with offensive lineman Cordy Glenn. Price appeared in 10 games for the Bengals in his rookie season, all as a starter, and missed six games with a foot injury.

Cincinnati Bengals center Billy Price (53) walks between drills during a training camp practice at the Paul Brown Stadium training field in downtown Cincinnati on Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021.
Cincinnati Bengals center Billy Price (53) walks between drills during a training camp practice at the Paul Brown Stadium training field in downtown Cincinnati on Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021 / Sam Greene via Imagn Content Services, LLC

He appeared in all 16 games in the following two seasons but started eight in 2019 and one in 2020. The Bengals declined to pick up the fifth-year option on Price's rookie deal earlier this year.

The addition of Price, who per Pro Football Focus has allowed 43 quarterback pressures in 892 pass-blocking snaps, could mean that, with guard Shane Lemieux still dealing with a knee injury, perhaps the Giants are thinking of shifting Nick Gates from center to guard and plugging price in at center. Such a move would be risky, given the Giants only have two weeks left to prepare for their September 12 regular-season opener.

Here is what LockedOn Bengals host Jake Liscow had to say about Price:

Great guy, powerful personality, very positive despite a very tough career. Suffered under awful coaching in 2019-2020 in Cincinnati. Has had some bad snap issues at times, and sometimes gets overaggressive, drops his eyes and punches leading to disastrous whiffs in pass pro and run blocking.

Not a great athlete, probably better suited to man/inside zone than outside zone run schemes. But, if he can rein in the over aggression and trust his technique, he has good bulk and strength and can be a great leader.  

Price can also play guard, so if the Giants don't want to break up the center-quarterback tandem of Gates and Daniel Jones, perhaps Price will step in for Lemieux until he's healthy. Backup interior offensive lineman Ted Larsen suffered a knee injury in last night's game as well, the severity of which isn't known.

The Giants' offensive line has been a significant question mark ever since last year. General manager Dave Gettleman had hoped that the unit would improve with reps, but he obviously couldn't plan for the knee injury suffered by Lemieux or for the retirements of veterans Zach Fulton and Joe Looney.

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Patricia Traina
PATRICIA TRAINA

Patricia Traina has covered the New York Giants for 30+ seasons, and her work has appeared in multiple media outlets, including The Athletic, Forbes, Bleacher Report, and the Sports Illustrated media group. As a credentialed New York Giants press corps member, Patricia has also covered five Super Bowls (three featuring the Giants), the annual NFL draft, and the NFL Scouting Combine. She is the author of The Big 50: The Men and Moments that Made the New York Giants. In addition to her work with New York Giants On SI, Patricia hosts the Locked On Giants podcast. Patricia is also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and the Football Writers Association of America.

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