Bengals waive Troy Hill, promote Chris Lewis-Harris to 53-man roster

The Cincinnati Bengals have made a swap at cornerback right before Christmas.

The team announced Thursday that Chris Lewis-Harris had been signed to the 53-man roster after spending the past two weeks on the practice squad. In order to make room for him, rookie corner Troy Hill was waived. It's likely the team will sign Hill back to the practice squad if he clears waivers, which may not happen for a few days with Christmas being Friday.

Lewis-Harris is now in his fourth NFL season after being signed by the Bengals as an undrafted free agent out of Tennessee-Chattanooga in 2012. He's been on the practice squad at times while getting called up and playing in games in each of his four seasons in Cincinnati.

However, CLH has appeared in just 17 career games, five of which came this season with a variety of injuries at cornerback. It was a rib injury that actually cost him his job back in November before he was eventually waived in order for a healthy Hill to be called up from the practice squad.

Speaking of, Hill was originally signed by the Bengals as an undrafted free agent out of Oregon following the 2015 NFL Draft. Hill finished his final college season with the Ducks by earning Second-Team Pac 12 All-Conference honors after registering 71 tackles, four tackles for loss, 18 pass deflections, and one interception. Hill was one of the better corners in college football, but off-field problems helped lead to him going undrafted.

In his three regular-season games with the Bengals, Hill registered just six total tackles (5 solo). The Bengals will likely try to get him out on the practice squad, especially since they didn't announce an immediate addition to the squad with Lewis-Harris being called up.

Here's a look at what Cincinnati's nine-man practice squad looks like following Lewis-Harris' signing: