ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – Free agent safety Micah Hyde will be re-signed to the team’s practice squad with the Buffalo Bills on Wednesday.

The 2017 Pro Bowl selection became a free agent after his contract with the Bills expired after the 2023 season. Hyde openly considered retirement and remained without a contract for the first 13 weeks of the 2024 season. He made it clear that if he were to return, he would only return to the Bills.

Coach Sean McDermott said Wednesday that Hyde will not start initially and that they will take his role day by day.

The Bills drafted safety Cole Bishop in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft and signed 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 lowest total QBR allowed by opponents (50.4).

Hyde spent the last seven seasons partnering current Miami Dolphins safety Jordan Poyer, starting the most games by a safety duo (92) during that time. Poyer was released by Buffalo before free agency. Both players had signed with the Bills in free agency after Sean McDermott was hired as the team’s head coach in 2017.

Hyde’s locker remained unoccupied in the Bills building in 2024 and his jersey number – No. 23 – was not taken.

An injury in Week 2 of the 2022 season caused the 33-year-old Hyde to undergo neck surgery that ultimately kept him out for the remainder of the season. In 2023, Stingers were a problem for him towards the end of the year as he missed three regular season games, but he fought his way back onto the field to finish the season and the playoffs.

The veteran shared that he was thinking about retiring after the 2023 season and said during the Bills’ locker room cleanout that he would not rush to make that decision but would discuss it with his family.

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 defended. He was also an important team leader.