Orchard Park, N.Y. -- Micah Hyde was sitting in his Green Bay apartment last November pondering his future.

At the time, the Packers were 4-6. Hyde was in the final season of his rookie contract, wondering if his three-plus seasons as a cornerback, safety and special teams standout were enough to convince Ted Thompson and company he deserved a long-term deal. That's when his agent called to break the news. Despite the high hopes Hyde had coming into the season, the Packers weren't interested in negotiating a longer contract. Their plan was to let him hit the market.

"Even though this team doesn't want you, there's other teams out there that are going to be watching this film the next few weeks," Hyde recalled his agent saying. "Come free agency, you never know what's going to happen."

At times during his four seasons in Green Bay, Hyde thought about playing at Lambeau Field in the green and gold for the rest of his career. But he learned before his final season as a Packer was over that those feelings weren't mutual.

"It was eye opening," Hyde said. "It was like somebody stabbed me in my back because I still had to play for that team for the next whatever. But I played my best football I've ever played. Maybe when I get stabbed in my back it makes me play a little better. It was frustrating at the time, but God has a plan and it all worked out for me."

Hyde used the slight as motivation. He picked off three passes in the final six games of Green Bay's season, helping the Packers to a six-game winning streak and a spot on the postseason. He finished the season with nine pass break-ups and added another interception during the Packers' postseason run. Again, he played all over the field, spending time at safety and as a nickel cornerback while returning kicks. You would think his play would have made the Packers reconsider letting him walk. But that wasn't the case.

"I can say that early on in my career in Green Bay, they loved what I could do," Hyde said. "I was returning punts, I was returning kicks, I was playing every position in the secondary for them. I don't know if they took it for granted. I really don't know. I can't answer that question. I can't speak for them. It was one of those situations that my agent, myself, everybody in my circle was kind of just surprised that they didn't come to the table with anything."

Sean McDermott was surprised, too. When free agency rolled around, McDermott had been the Buffalo Bills' head coach for just a few months. But while McDermott was the defensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers, he had spent plenty of time "T.V. scouting" Hyde whenever he had a chance. He saw a player who could play all over the field, and the two have a mutual friend, so he knew the type of person and leader Hyde could be. So when his first free agency with the Bills rolled around, McDermott put on the tape to see if it would match up with what he'd seen on television.

"The weird part about it is when I TV scouted him I couldn't get a real feel for what he was until you turn the tape on and see, 'Could he be a full time safety for us?'" McDermott said.

McDermott and the Bills signed Hyde to a five-year, $32.5 million contract with $14 million in guarantees on the first day of free agency. Through 11 games, Hyde has been one of the best safeties in the NFL. He's second in the league with five interceptions and is leading his position in Pro Bowl votes.

Back before free agency, Hyde told his mom and fiance he wanted to land somewhere warm. From his hometown of Fostoria, Ohio to the University of Iowa in Iowa City and then Green Bay, Hyde hasn't been able to escape the cold.

"'I want to end up on a good football team that will love me and whatnot, but I don't want to end up in the cold again,'" Hyde recalled telling his family. "Then my agent called me and said, 'Hey Buffalo's really interested.' I'm like, 'Oh geez.' But it's all worked out. It all happened for a reason and it's a blessing in disguise."

Hyde and his fiance built a house in Western New York and frequenty host the other defensive backs.

"Micah Hyde, he's a rich guy, and he has a nice house that he just got built, so we go over there, we watch a little Thursday Night Football games and Monday Night Football games over there," rookie cornerback Tre'Davious White said earlier this season. "I think I'm hesitant to go over there again because you've got to take your shoes off because he's a little boujee; you can't wear your shoes in his house."

Strict house rules aside, the younger defensive backs have taken to Hyde's leadership style. Backup safety Trae Elston is often walking off the practice field with Hyde, picking his brain. Hyde even told Elston and a few others to swing by his house on Thanksgiving to make sure they had meals.

"As a young guy, I don't have a family, no kids, no girl," Elston said. "So it's always cool to hang around with somebody around like that.

"He's a soft-spoken guy. Real humble, real welcoming. He's like a teacher, though, man. I like that. Little key details or something I need to work on that a coach might not set. He'll give me a little side key note. I feel like he wants me to be great also. He told me I have a lot of potential. He told me this in preseason, 'If you need anything, I can help you do that.' A lot of vets don't do that because you're fighting for your job."

Hyde spent his entire career in Green Bay fighting for his job. As a fifth-round pick, he was proving himself at every turn. Those who doubted him aren't Hyde's main motivation. He doesn't know the list of all the cornerbacks who were drafted ahead of him.

"I just know what I can do for a football team and trying to make these guys in the locker room better is my motivation," Hyde said.

But the fact of the matter is Hyde, like many people at 1 Bills Drive, has doubters. Even the team that drafted him and watched him produce for four seasons considered him expendable. Former Packers scout and Washington general manager Scot McCloughan, who now owns and operates a scouting service, said in a recent Sports Illustrated video that Hyde isn't the best athlete when asked why the Packers might have gotten rid of him.

"You see the overall view of it, and I'm telling you, he's not an impressive athlete in person physically or movement wise," McCloughan said. "All of a sudden, some guys get cute and say, 'We're going to go bigger, we're going to go faster and we're going to go quicker.' You turn around to it and it can bite you, because when it's all said and done on Sunday, the guy is going to make plays. He's going to be out there doing everything you ask him to do."

That's all he's done in Buffalo, where he's become a leader on and off the field. Somehow, Hyde was available in free agency and found the ideal fit.

"It's the biggest city I've ever lived in if you can believe that," Hyde said. "I've been in small town Ohio, Fostoria, and then went to Iowa City and then Green Bay and now Buffalo. They actually have a downtown with some good food. I'm liking that. I just feel like all the house aside, the job aside, just the people in this place, in this facility and outside, have just made it feel like home. You play your best football when you're stress free. When you have nothing else to worry about, you can just come here everyday, go to work, no stress, go out and play football. That's when you play your best and that's what I've been doing this season."

Just because he's taking his shoes off before he walks in the house, don't think for a second Hyde is getting too comfortable.

"You always have to look over your shoulder in this league," he said. "You never know what's going to happen. You see guys all the time getting cut. You always have to look over your shoulder. I think the worst thing you can be in the NFL is complacent. You always have to try to keep getting better and better and better. But at the same time, having a place here, a healthy pay check, it makes you want to go out there and play better. With more responsibility, you have to go out there and play better. I understand that and that's exactly what I wanted coming in."