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Alaina Getzenberg, ESPN
ORCHARD PARK, NY — Through the 2024 season, Micah Hyde’s locker with the Buffalo Bills will remain unused and his number unassigned. On Wednesday — 13 weeks into the season — the veteran safety returned to the team as coach Sean McDermott said he rejoined the practice squad.
Coach Sean McDermott made it clear Wednesday that Hyde will not start and will assume that role one day.
“Just to set expectations, Micah is in a practice squad role,” McDermott said. “We have a lot of confidence in Taylor Rapp, Damar Hamlin, Cole Bishop, Kareem Jackson. They’ve all done a great job for us in the roles they’re in now. They’ll stay in those roles and Micah is in the practice squad role, so it’s good to have them back and so is his family.”
He is a free agent after his contract with the Bills expires after the 2023 season. Hyde, now in his 13th season, is openly considering retirement and is not signing this season. The former captain of the Bills for three seasons explained that he will return, it is only for the Bills.
The Bills drafted safety Cole Bishop in the third round of the 2024 NFL draft, in addition to signing safety Taylor Rapp to an extension in the offseason. Rapp and 2021 sixth-round pick Damar Hamlin have been starters on defense all season.
The Bills defense is tied for second in takeaways (24) and leads the league in the fewest QBRs allowed to opponents (50.4).
Hyde spent the past seven seasons partnering with the now-Miami Dolphins safety Jordan Poyer, starting the most games by the safety duo during the stretch (92). Poyer was released by Buffalo ahead of free agency. Both players have signed with the Bills in free agency after Sean McDermott was hired as the team’s head coach in 2017.
McDermott kept the expectations for Hyde minimal and said, “I say, this is respectful, very little,” when asked what he is looking for from Hyde in return.
“We’re in a good place, very confident in the guys who have been there all season and have done a great job,” McDermott said. “… It’s a little bit from the point of view of just managing expectations, why am I saying that, right? A little bit of hey, you’re going to come in and you’re going to play and you’re going to help. Well, let’s take it one day at a time and be number 1, make sure everyone knows what their role is now, and we’ll see.
“… It’s always about the team and never about one person and, in this case, Micah doesn’t want that to happen to him.”
The injury in Week 2 of the 2022 season forced the 33-year-old Hyde to undergo neck surgery that ultimately kept him out for the rest of the season. In 2023, stingers became a problem for him at the end of the year as he missed three regular season games, but he returned to the field to finish the season and the playoffs.
The veteran indicated he is thinking about retiring after the 2023 season, saying while cleaning out the Bills locker room that he is in no rush to make a decision, but will discuss it with his family.
The 2017 Pro Bowl selection is now the third most experienced player on the Bills roster (behind Jackson and Von Miller) and adds an element of leadership to the roster.
“(Hyde) could walk down to the corner bank and be the bank president just as easily as the captain of the Buffalo Bills,” McDermott said. “So, he just has a unique way about him from a leadership standpoint, to your point, who he is as a person and his presence and the way he adapts to people and his environment.”
Hyde found a home in Buffalo after playing the first four years of his career with the Green Bay Packers, who selected him in the fifth round of the 2013 draft. He recorded 16 interceptions with Buffalo and 42 passes defensed. He is also the leader of the main team.
