Micah Hyde proving to be incredible free agent find for Bills

The Buffalo Bills struck gold in free agency when they poached Micah Hyde away from the Green Bay Packers. He’s been a fantastic value…

When the Buffalo Bills were assembling their roster for the 2017 season, I couldn’t help but think they were tanking to try and get a quarterback of their choosing in the 2018 NFL Draft. The Bills were letting go of some of their ‘best’ players, including Stephon Gillmore, Sammy Watkins, and Mike Gillislee.

They got rid of players like Reggie Ragland and even recently Marcell Dareus. They let Robert Woods walk in free agency, and there were rumors they could be looking to trade players like offensive tackle Cordy Glenn as well as quarterback Tyrod Taylor.

In all the craziness that has been the Buffalo Bills’ roster shuffle, lost in that shuffle has been one of the most underrated moves any team made this offseason, and that was the move to go and get safety Micah Hyde, who was recently named the AFC defensive player of the month for October with his five interceptions in four games.

Hyde was always a player that was around the football when with the Green Bay Packers, but the five interceptions are a career high, and he’s been instrumental for a Buffalo secondary that has played just about as well as any other in the NFL.

Ranking second on the Bills’ defense with 473 snaps played this season, Hyde’s jump in playing time this season (played career-high 80 percent of snaps in 2016 for Packers) has come with a huge leap in production, both against the pass and the run.

He’s helped give Buffalo one of the toughest secondaries in the NFL, and is creating opportunities for the offense by taking the football away.

For those who have followed Hyde dating back to his days as an Iowa Hawkeye, his nose for the football is nothing new.

So far in his NFL career, Hyde has picked off 13 passes, and recovered six fumbles. He’s also been an exceptional punt returner in his career, taking back three punts for touchdowns while with Green Bay.

Coming out of college at Iowa, Hyde was somewhat of a ‘tweener’ player with the ability to play both cornerback and safety, but not necessarily the athleticism or size to excel at playing either spot on a full-time basis.

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Green Bay utilized him well, moving him all around the field playing nickel defensive back, safety, punt returner, and kick returner, but the Bills and former Carolina Panthers defensive leader Sean McDermott have found the perfect home for Hyde.

Now under the tutelage of not only McDermott, but another defensive back wizard in Leslie Frazier (defensive coordinator) and defensive backs coach Gill Byrd, Hyde is blossoming into one of the premiere back-end defenders in the NFL.

The Bills didn’t pay all that much to get him, all things considered.

Hyde signed a five-year contract with the Bills for $30.5 million and just $14 million guaranteed. He’s the 16th highest paid strong safety in the NFL, the 9th highest paid player on the Bills, and he ranks 345th overall in the NFL in terms of overall cash.

For what he’s done on the field to this point in his career, and the type of impact he’s making in Buffalo right now, I’d call that a big time bargain.

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