The Buffalo Bills have signed Micah Hyde, the 33-year old safety and former team captain, back to the squad. On Wednesday, December 4, the team noted in an announcement Hyde’s seven-year tenure with the Bills and that he chose not to sign with another team in the offseason after he became a free agent after the 2023-4 season. Here’s what we know so far about his new contract as well as his new position on the Bills before the NFL playoffs.
What is Micah Hyde’s new position and contract with the Buffalo Bills?
Micah Hyde has been assigned to the Buffalo Bills practice squad and will potentially serve as a backup for the team’s current safeties including Taylor Rapp, Damar Hamlin, and Cole Bishop.
It’s unclear how much Hyde’s new contract is with the Bills, though it is a one-year deal. As tracked by Spotrac, he signed a 5-year $30.5 million contract with the Bills from 2017 to 2021. He then signed an 2-year $19 million extension in 2022. Given his new role on the team, his new contract is expected to have a salary that’s lower than that. That said, for the 2024 season the Bills faced a dead cap of $3.4 million for Hyde alone.
Hyde, along with other veteran players, was originally cut from the team before the 2024 season so that the Bills had some space in salary cap for the 2024 NFL Draft. This was not a particularly surprising move since the Bills renegotiated Hyde’s contract in March 2022. At the time, the safety had two years left on his contract, but the Bills offered to turn it into a five-year deal by adding three void years.
Still, Hyde indicated earlier in May 2024 that he would like to play for the Bills again. This left open the possibility that the safety would reunite with the team later in the year, and that has finally come to pass.
Coach Sean McDermott stated, via ESPN, that he has “respectfully, very little” expectations from Hyde upon his return. McDermott suggested that his comeback would not be a shakeup to the existing team roster and noted that Hyde “has a unique way about him from a leadership standpoint.” He would join Von Miller and Jackson as one of the most experienced players on the Bills.
Several days ago, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen got engaged to Hailee Steinfield, though his ex-girlfriend Brittany Williams did not have kind words to say about it.
