{"id":224656,"date":"2025-03-25T13:30:58","date_gmt":"2025-03-25T17:30:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=224656"},"modified":"2025-03-24T21:30:41","modified_gmt":"2025-03-25T01:30:41","slug":"ravens-chargers-could-take-chance-on-top-nfl-free-agent-mike-hilton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/03\/25\/ravens-chargers-could-take-chance-on-top-nfl-free-agent-mike-hilton\/","title":{"rendered":"Ravens, Chargers Could Take Chance on Top NFL Free Agent"},"content":{"rendered":"

Top NFL free agent cornerback Mike Hilton<\/a> is still available on the market in a surprising way as he still remains unsigned. According to several reports<\/a>, the source lists him as a top-seven free agent which is shocking that he’s even available and hasn’t been garnering much interest. Despite that, there haven’t been any talks of the Cincinnati Bengals bringing back Hilton since the veteran will likely wind up on a new team before the 2025 season. The Bengals gave out monstrous contracts to wide receivers Tee Higgins<\/a> and Ja’Marr Chase this offseason and they’re working on a deal for defensive end Trey Hendrickson.<\/a><\/p>\n

It doesn’t look good for the Bengals who probably want to sign Hilton but they don’t have the financial freedom to extend him. Germaine Pratt requested a trade a few weeks ago so this means the Bengals have bigger problems on their hands so they probably don’t have time to even think about giving Hilton a new deal. Originally selected as an undrafted rookie in 2016, the former Ole Miss product began his career sitting on the practice squad before earning a starting role with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Hilton is on the outside looking while he’s still one of the most versatile secondary pieces in the league but many teams could be eager to add him to their roster.<\/p>\n

The cornerback has the experience and sense of urgency to turn around a pass defense that’s been struggling and this is why a team like the Ravens, Chargers could take a chance on him.<\/p>\n

Ravens, Chargers Could Take Chance on Top NFL Free Agent Mike Hilton<\/h2>\n

Bolstering Baltimore’s Defense<\/h3>\n

Last season, the Baltimore Ravens had one of the worst pass secondaries in the league while veteran Marlon Humphrey<\/a> was the best cornerback on this roster. 2024 draft pick Nate Wiggins had his moments but it wasn’t enough for the Ravens since Brandon Stephens wasn’t able to kick the tires and help alleviate the pressure from the wide receivers. Even after trading for Tre’Davious White to beef up the unit<\/a>, the Ravens only saw a glimpse of improvement. Head coach John Harbaugh made an alternating change to the unit benching Marcus Williams in favor of Ar’Darius Washington and there was a clear improvement when they made the chance.<\/p>\n

However, the team will need a new cornerback either way since Humphrey is aging and will probably retire in the next few seasons. Wiggins isn’t ready for full-time duties but someone like Hilton could change the landscape of this secondary. Since losing Geno Stone<\/a> to the Bengals, the Ravens could seek revenge and sign one of their former players to increase their Super Bowl chances.<\/p>\n

Kristian Fulton’s Replacement?<\/h3>\n

For the Chargers, the team lost Kristian Fulton to their rival<\/a> even though he arguably had the best season last year. Cam Hart and Tarheeb Still have potential but no one should bet on them yet as they’re growing on this roster. Donte Jackson<\/a> is a fine addition but even if they brought in Benjamin St-Juste, the Chargers will need a capable starter in their cornerback role.<\/p>\n

Hilton is an excelling veteran who would get the team back on track for an explosive secondary. The cornerback won’t put up elite numbers but he could cover his own man in crucial situations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Top NFL remaining free agent could be receiving calls soon after the first two waves of free agency has passed. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4795,"featured_media":224658,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,10,7,18],"tags":[7723,7642,7725,6672,6031,7429,1274,2951,7638,1921],"class_list":["post-224656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-ravens","category-bengals","category-chargers","tag-baltimore-ravens-news","tag-chargers-featured","tag-cincinnati-bengals-news","tag-jamarr-chase","tag-kristian-fulton","tag-los-angeles-chargers-news","tag-marlon-humphrey","tag-mike-hilton","tag-ravens-featured","tag-tredavious-white"],"modified_by":"Anthony Palacios","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4795"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224656"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":224662,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224656\/revisions\/224662"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}