Former Rams player finds home after signing with team that has a former Rams coach

The Sean McVay-Rams connection pays off once again, as former L.A. Rams cornerback Troy Hill found a place to continue his NFL career on Sunday by signing a contract with the Carolina Panthers. The current defensive coordinator under new head coach Frank Reich is Ejiro Evero, who had previously spent five years working for McVay as the safeties coach, then being promoted to defensive pass coordinator and secondaries coach in 2021.

Hill was picked up by the Rams in 2016 and lasted until 2020, a career-year with three interceptions and two returned for touchdowns. Hill signed a free agent deal with the Cleveland Browns in 2021, but returned to L.A. in 2022 and started 12 games for the Rams at cornerback.

Hill was eighth in defensive snaps for the Rams in 2021 and of those players, the only one still on the team is linebacker Ernest Jones, who was seventh in snaps.

Hill joins Bobby Wagner, Jalen Ramsey, Nick Scott, Taylor Rapp, Leonard Floyd, and Greg Gaines in landing with new teams in 2023, also joining A’Shawn Robinson, Terrell Lewis, David Long, and Justin Hollins.

The returning Rams with the most defensive snaps in 2023 are Jones, Aaron Donald, Derion Kendrick, Michael Hoecht, Marquise Copeland, Jonah Williams, Cobie Durant, Bobby Browns, and Earnest Brown IV. The only ones who played in more than 45% of the snaps last season are Jones and Donald, who played in 56%.

Evero got his first defensive coordinator job with the Broncos in 2022, helping lead them to a number seven ranking in yards allowed, 14th in points, and fifth in net yards per pass attempt. He was not retained by new head coach Sean Payton but now works with a talented defense, including Brian Burns and Derrick Brown, on the Panthers.