Orchard Park, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - One of the franchise's better defensive players over the last decade is calling it a career after 12 seasons in the National Football League.
Veteran safety Micah Hyde has officially retired from the NFL after spending eight seasons with the Buffalo Bills from 2017 to the 2024 season in Orchard Park. Hyde formally made the announcement on Tuesday in a post on his Instagram account.
After being a fifth-round pick (159th overall) of the Packers back in the 2013 NFL Draft out of the University of Iowa, Hyde spent the first four years of his career in Green Bay, where he accumulated 227 total tackles, eight tackles for loss, four quarterback hits, four sacks and eight interceptions in 63 games played.
Then in the 2017 offseason, Hyde elected to test the free agent market, where he ended up signing his first contract with the Bills. That free agency period saw Buffalo forming its formidable safety tandem of Hyde and Jordan Poyer that helped the Bills become one of the best defensive units in the league.
Hyde and Poyer were also two of Buffalo's first additions to the roster in the Sean McDermott era of Bills football.
Over the course of 95 games played in Orchard Park, Hyde was able to rack up 417 total tackles, a sack, 16 interceptions, three forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and a touchdown. He was also named as a Second-Team All-Pro twice, and earned a Pro Bowl nod once in 2017.
However, towards the end of his career in Buffalo, injurie limited Hyde's action on the field. In 2022, he only managed two games over the course of the season due to a neck injury. Then in 2023, Hyde returned to action, but still only played in 14 games while dealing with a number of other ailments.
After sitting out most of the 2024 season, the Bills elected to bring Hyde back for the remainder of the year as a practice squad signing. While Hyde never saw any game action in the regular season or the playoffs, he was a pivotal addition to the locker room from a leadership standpoint for the stretch run.
Hyde's 16 interceptions stands 20th all-time in franchise history, while his 298 solo tackles are 21st in franchise history.