Getty Bills safety Micah Hyde at Highmark Stadium on October 26, 2023.
Micah Hyde has yet to announce a decision on whether he will return to the Buffalo Bills or head to retirement, but the All-Pro safety has laid the groundwork to continue playing in the NFL.
Speaking to former Bills center Eric Wood on the Centered on Buffalo podcast, Hyde revealed new details about the neck surgery he underwent after a season-ending injury in 2022. Hyde said he had the option for a more comprehensive procedure that would have ended his career then, but opted against it with plans to continue playing.
Hyde became a free agent in March, but has said he would consider a return to the Bills for one final season and the team’s management appears open to a comeback as well.
Micah Hyde Reveals New Injury Details
Hyde suffered a neck injury early in the 2022 season that left him on injured reserve. While the safety hinted that he may have been able to return had the Bills advanced to the AFC Championship game that season, he ultimately did not return until the start of the 2023 season.
Speaking to Wood, whose own career ended with a similar neck injury, Hyde revealed that he had two options for surgery. He could have gotten a single fusion and fixed the injured disc or a double fusion that would have fixed both the injured disc and the one below it which was at risk of damage.
Double fusion would have been a career-ending surgery, so Hyde said he opted for single fusion so he could continue playing.
“Last season the bottom one started acting up,” Hyde revealed in the June 21 appearance. “Later on in life, I may have to get that second one operated on, but I was hoping later in life and not two or three years.”
Will Micah Hyde make a return? He opens up about his neck injury with @ewood70 on Centered on Buffalo. #BillsMafia
One More Season?
Hyde has said he’s still not sure if he wants to return for another NFL season. Speaking to reporters at his charity softball game, Hyde said he has enjoyed time away from football and still trying to determine his next move.
“I feel like I’ve been an open book. You guys know everything that I know,” Hyde said, via Jay Skurski of the Buffalo News on X. “I got away after the season, got out to San Diego. My days consist of working out, swimming with the kids, just trying to continue to help my wife out with the kids, and continue to physically and mentally prepare myself — if anything were to happen.”
But Hyde was also clear that if he did return, it would only be for the Bills.
“It’s Bills or retire,” the All-Pro safety said, via Sal Capaccio of WGR 550.
If Hyde does decide to return to the NFL, he could find a place on the Bills for what would be his eighth season in Buffalo.
“Bills GM Brandon Beane said he doesn’t think Micah Hyde has ‘shut the door’ on playing and that the Bills ‘definitely wouldn’t shut the door to ever bringing a Micah Hyde back if he decides to play,’ ” ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg wrote on X. “Beane emphasized that he doesn’t know if Hyde is decided either way right now.”