Could a reunion with two-time All-Pro safety make sense for the Packers?
After seven seasons in Buffalo, Micah Hyde isn’t only trying to figure out if he wants to keep playing, but where he’ll play if he does.
GREEN BAY, Wisc. — After bringing aboard two of the most sought-after free agents available on the open market, Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst may be just about finished with his spending spree. At least until after next month’s draft.
Gutekunst signed running back Josh Jacobs and safety Xavier McKinney each to four-year deals that totaled $115 million dollars between the two of them—both acquisitions immediately fortified positions of need on the roster. While Jacobs strengthens a backfield that is no longer led by Aaron Jones for the first time in seven seasons, McKinney bolstered arguably the weakest position group on the team. But there’s no reason why McKinney’s presence should stop Gutekunst and co. from rounding out the back end of the Packers’ defense. They allowed Darnell Savage, a starter for the past five seasons, to enter unrestricted free agency, along with Jonathan Owens and Rudy Ford.
That could be where a familiar face enters the mix to help refill a bare cupboard.
Micah Hyde, a former fifth-round pick of the Packers who spent the first four seasons of his career in Green Bay, is currently searching for his next opportunity. The safety market is oversaturated with savvy talent and Hyde is no exception. Even Justin Simmons—a four-time Second Team All-Pro with three of those honors coming in each of the last three seasons—is awaiting his next gig. Hyde is a two-time Second Team All-Pro in his own right, as well as a former Pro Bowler. At some point, the cost for one of these top-tier safeties will continue to dwindle, giving the Packers—and whoever else—the opportunity to bring them in for a team-friendly price.
It would be somewhat foreign for the Packers to bring back someone they’ve once cut ties with, however, that was the previous regime. Hyde’s contract with the Packers expired after the 2016 campaign and then-general manager Ted Thompson didn’t bother offering to retain him, leading to a five-year deal with the Buffalo Bills where he’s spent the last seven seasons.
There are only three notable occurrences in recent history where the Packers released someone, only to re-sign them down the road. After leaving the Packers in 2013, wide receiver James Jones spent one season with the Oakland Raiders before returning to Green Bay in the summer of 2015 after Jordy Nelson tore his anterior cruciate ligament in an exhibition game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Ahman Green, one of the franchise’s all-time leading rushers, became a free agent after the 2006 season and would go on to sign a four-year contract with the Houston Texans.
After two miserable seasons, Green was released. In October of 2009, the Packers signed Green to a deal that would run through the remainder of the season after they placed DeShawn Wynn on injured reserve.
Tramon Williams technically returned to the Packers twice. After entering the league as an undrafted rookie free agent and spending the first nine years of his career in Green Bay, Williams saw brief stints with the Cleveland Browns and Arizona Cardinals. He returned to the Packers in 2018, and after they shipped off Ha Ha Clinton-Dix at the trade deadline, he was converted to free safety where he’d spend the latter half of the season. At the end of his two-year contract, the Packers allowed him to enter unrestricted free agency.
Ahead of their NFC Championship bout with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in January of 2021, the Packers brought Wiliams back for a second time, signing him to their practice squad just days after he was released by the Baltimore Ravens. He didn’t play a single snap in the game, however.
Only three noteworthy players returning to the Packers in the past 15 years isn’t a great sample size, but in Hyde’s case, it would make sense. The Packers’ new defensive scheme under newly-hired coordinator Jeff Hafley will place a greater dependency on the safety position, as well as feature a myriad of Cover 1 and Cover 3 looks—the majority of those coverages will be dictated by McKinney. But with Hyde, who has essentially functioned as a human Swiss Army knife throughout his career, Hafley will have the luxury of weaponizing both players in various roles. McKinney and Hyde can both play the traditional free safety position, slot cornerback and in the box as a second-level defender.
Historically, that kind of versatility has been welcomed in Green Bay. If Hyde was going to function as a nickelback for the Packers, that’s going to require him to be active in run defense, but even at 33 years old, he’s never shied away from contact. According to Pro Football Focus, Hyde was responsible for just eight missed tackles last season—a number that’s tied for his lowest mark since joining the Bills in 2017.
Some baggage would come with Hyde, though. He poses two major concerns: Whether he wants to continue playing and whether he can continue playing. Multiple reports at the end of the season stated that Hyde would contemplate retirement, which makes sense given his age and recent injury history. He missed the majority of the 2022 season after sustaining a herniated disc while trying to tackle Tennesee Titans wideout Robert Woods, ultimately requiring season-ending surgery. Even the following year when he was back in the Bills’ defensive lineup, he missed three more games with recurring neck stingers.
“It was a battle each and every week to get back on that field on Sundays,” Hyde told BuffaloBills.com in January. “Neck injury coming off the surgery and it was good till about halfway and then the stingers started acting up and it wasn’t fun. It was painful. I think I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that.
“There’s a few times this year I had no idea if I was going to be back out there.”
It’s a major concern—any injuries relating to the head and neck are major concerns, of course—especially if the Packers would ask him to play even sparingly in the slot. The uncertainty of whether or not he’ll even be able to get up out of bed without insufferable pain for practice, let alone a game, is frightening. It’s certainly a wise business practice for the Packers to steer clear of Hyde, both for their sake and for his. But if he wants to keep playing and passes every medical test thrown at him, the worth he’d provide for a young secondary—both on the field and off of it—would be a bargain.
The Packers did just re-sign Keisean Nixon, who was their starting nickelback last season. The belief is that he’ll play in a similar role this upcoming season, barring something unforeseen. Signing Hyde or even drafting a nickelback from a class that’s thin at the position would be considered a surprise. Even so, that shouldn’t discourage the Packers from utilizing one of their 11 draft picks—including five in the first 100 selections—and adding at safety. They spent a seventh-round pick on Anthony Johnson Jr. last spring and he played exclusive starting snaps for the Packers in his rookie season, but McKinney, Johnson and the other safeties on the roster, Zayne Anderson, Benny Sapp III and Tyler Coyle, isn’t going to cut it.
The Packers have undergone a well-documented youth movement, cutting ties with some of their veteran players in favor of younger versions with more to prove. It’d be right up their alley to opt against a reunion with Hyde and instead spend a first-round pick on Iowa’s Cooper DeJean, who can essentially do everything that Hyde can.
