Cincinnati Bengals: Trading Billy Price is a win for both sides

The Cincinnati Bengals have made a trade. Ian Rapoport tweeted on Monday afternoon that the Bengals were shipping former first-round pick Billy Price to the Giants in exchange for defensive lineman B.J. Hill.

The loss of Price isn’t a big one whatsoever for the Bengals, as it was highly unlikely that he was going to start this year, especially not out of the gates. The Bengals have Trey Hopkins in the starting center role and he’s thrived there for the most part.

They also drafted Trey Hill out of Georgia in the sixth round and now with Price out of the picture, Hill should be able to find his way onto the roster.

Cincinnati Bengals trade Billy Price for BJ Hill

Hill is a former third-round pick out of North Carolina State, who has spent the entirety of his career to this point with the Giants, the team who drafted him. He’s mostly been utilized as a backup but hasn’t missed a single game throughout his three-year career.

The Bengals needed depth behind Larry Ogunjobi and now they have that with Hill. He adds another pass-rushing presence, which is something the Bengals have desperately needed to add this offseason.

As for Price, this now allows him to go somewhere he can start fresh and maybe even prove that he is indeed worthy of being a starter in the NFL. This isn’t an opportunity he was going to have with the Bengals, who found someone they really like in Hopkins and a nice backup option in Hill. There wasn’t much here for Price. Now he can move on and hopefully play well somewhere else.

This was a good trade by the Bengals and now allows them to keep a rookie they felt good about on the roster. Price gets a fresh start and can hit the reset button. Maybe he sheds that bust label in New York, you never know.