The Buffalo Bills made a, on paper, harmless transaction Thursday afternoon, releasing rookie defensive tackle Zion Logue from their active roster. The move, while not necessarily expected, was unsurprising; Logue had only played 36 defensive snaps since joining the Bills before Week 5, and the rookie had just been pushed further down the depth chart with Buffalo’s Wednesday signings of defensive tackles Jordan Phillips and Quinton Jefferson. Logue was one of six interior defenders on the 53-man roster, and it even looked like he had slipped below practice squad lineman Eli Ankou in the proverbial pecking order; It no longer made sense to keep the first-year player on the active unit.

The far more interesting amount of information to emerge from the release is related to roster construction, as the transaction left the Bills with just 52 players on their 53-man roster. Fans immediately began speculating how the team would use their newly created roster spot, with new signing of veteran Micah Hyde as a possibility.

And while these are natural dots to connect given the team’s perceived need at safety and Hyde’s availability, is this a path Buffalo should embark on? Would a 33-year-old Hyde, who hasn’t played in a football game since late January, be a definite upgrade over any of the Bills’ starting options? And if he isn’t brought back to take over a starting gig, would that be an opportunity the veteran would leave quasi-retirement for?

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Fans have long seen the ultimate re-signing of Hyde as an inevitability, and this is not without reason; The defensive back, who earned two All-Pro nods while starting 95 games for the team from 2017-2023, left One Bills Drive when his contract expired this spring but did not sign with another club, after saying on multiple occasions that he is not yet sure if he will play football again, but if he does, it will be for Buffalo. The Bills’ brass is also keeping that door open, with both general manager Brandon Beane and head coach Sean McDermott saying on multiple occasions over the summer that they are open to the idea of ​​re-signing Hyde; The sideline boss said as recently as October that the return of the long-time team captain is “always on (the team’s) radar.“

The reunion makes sense in theory for a number of reasons. Hyde, in his prime, was one of the league’s best safeties and (along with Jordan Poyer) expertly provided a safety net over the top of Buffalo’s defense. Having been in Orchard Park for seven years, he knows the schedule like the back of his hand and could hypothetically slot right into the lineup. Combine this with the perceived lack of top play from Taylor Rapp and Damar Hamlin this season and the team’s latest release by Mike Edwardsand using the newly freed list on Hyde seems like a no-brainer.

While everything seems rosy on paper, the elephant in the room here is Hyde’s health. He missed the vast majority of the 2022 season after suffering a Week 2 neck injury that required surgery, and while he returned in 2023, he would suffer multiple stringers over the course of the year and miss three games. The defender appeared on Centered on Buffalo podcast with former Bills center Eric Wood in June to discuss his playing future and tell his former teammate he is still dealing with complications from the injury and subsequent surgery and that he may need to undergo another surgery within the next few years.

Also consider that Hyde, while not poor, was showing signs of aging in 2023 and that, again, he hasn’t played football or attended a practice session since January, and it might be disingenuous to suggest he would be a definite upgrade over Rapp or, more likely, Hamlin at this point. It’s entirely possible that Hyde, given his experience, would quickly get back into the swing and be a semblance of his former self after the season, but that’s no guarantee; Getting off the couch and into an NFL starting lineup is no easy task. While his return to the NFL is ultimately his choice, both his immediate and long-term health are also significant concerns.

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Hamlin is the player most fans point to as starter Hyde’s replacement, and while the fourth-year running back hasn’t been stellar this year, perhaps his play has been over-criticized. He has made 57 tackles so far, showing significant progress in this area of ​​the game as he has become a reliable player in run support. He also leads the team in assists with five; he’s again not a world champion by any means, but he’s not necessarily a glaring weak point either. A prime Hyde would be a definite upgrade over him; a Hyde who hasn’t played football in nearly 11 months and is still dealing with the effects of a significant neck injury might not be.

The Buffalo faithful may counter this and say that Hyde could simply be a depth signing after the recent release of Edwards, a reliable veteran who knows the system and can be used in a “break glass in emergency situations.” Again, this is great in theory, but is this an opportunity Hyde would jump at? Would he leave his infamous couch to be insurance? And how is that arrangement so different from the “wait and see” approach currently in place, short of an official contract?

The creation of a roster spot and the fast-approaching postseason made the resurgence of Hyde talk only natural, but it might not be as slam-dunk of a signing as some fans think it would be. Is it possible he could come in and once again be the player Bills fans fell in love with throughout his illustrious tenure? Sure, but it’s perhaps just as likely that his impact wouldn’t be as significant as it once was or even that much more discernible than Hamlin’s, at this point. Re-signing Hyde ultimately wouldn’t be a bad use of the roster, but it might not be the pendulum-swinging transaction that some think it would be.

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