Orchard Park, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - With the AFC East already secured and five games remaining in the regular season, the Buffalo Bills are bringing back a familiar face on the defense to provide some extra depth heading into the postseason.
The Bills announced on Wednesday the signing of veteran safety Micah Hyde to the practice squad, after spending the first 13 weeks of the 2024 season unsigned.
"Micah is in a practice squad role," said Bills head coach Sean McDermott on Wednesday ahead of Buffalo's walk-through practice in Orchard Park. "We are fully confident in Taylor Rapp, Damar Hamlin, Cole Bishop, Kareem Jackson, they've all been doing a real good job for us in the roles that they are currently in. They're going to stay in those roles, and Micah is in a practice squad role. So good to have him back, and his family as well."
Earlier this year in May, Hyde had told reporters prior to his annual Charity Softball Game that his future in the NFL was simple: Either return to the Bills, or step away from the game entirely and retire.
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Despite the move coming more than 13 weeks into the 2024 season, Hyde's return to the Bills doesn't come as a surprise to McDermott in the slightest.
"Really not surprised when any of these players come back," McDermott said. "Players that leave here to go to play for other teams, or in this case, not play for another team, they seem to keep pretty close tabs on what we're doing, which is cool."
The 33-year-old originally signed with the Bills as a free agent during the 2017 season, and spent seven seasons playing in Western New York, while also becoming a key leader on the defense both on and off the field.
"I've said this when he was here playing, he could go down to the bank at the corner and be the president of the bank, just as easy as he could be the captain of the Buffalo Bills. He just has a unique way about him, from a leadership standpoint, of who he is as a person and his presence, and the way he's very adaptable to people and to his surroundings," McDermott said of Hyde.
Over the course of 95 games played with the Bills, 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.
One concern surrounding Hyde over his last couple of years in Buffalo was injuries limiting his 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.
Hyde was originally a fifth-round pick (159th overall) of the Green Bay Packers back in the 2013 NFL Draft out of the University of Iowa.