Siran Neal is proud of what he's been able to make of himself as a player, prouder of what the Buffalo Bills have been able to accomplish since drafting him in 2018 and proudest that he's been offered an unusually rich contract by special-teams standards to keep being a part of it.
The Bills cornerback was happy to talk about all those things and a whole bunch more in a wide-ranging Zoom news conference that lasted nearly half an hour on Thursday morning.
Everything except the final 13 seconds of regulation in a brutal overtime playoff loss at Kansas City last month.
"You know what's crazy? We don't even discuss it with each other," Neal said.
Fair enough, though he did acknowledge the way the 2021 season ended played a role in the desire to come back to help the team get over that next hurdle.
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Neal was part of a dream draft class for the Bills that included quarterback Josh Allen, linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, defensive tackle Harrison Phillips, cornerback Taron Johnson and guard Wyatt Teller.
Allen and Johnson already have been extended. Edmunds has made two Pro Bowls and Teller one (as a member of the Cleveland Browns in 2021).
"Much success, like craaaaaa-zy success," Neal raved, "even down to the [undrafted] free agents, like [cornerback] Levi Wallace. ... Man, that was a hell of a class."
That the Bills chose to throw a contract that could be worth nearly $11 million at Neal in a year when they have less salary cap flexibility than almost every other team in the NFL indicates how much they value special teams and how much return they expect from their investment.
"We're like a pack of wild hyenas," Neal said. "I mean, we all know what the job is. But as a unit on that kickoff team, it's just like we're all hungry."
"... The reason why I don't say like a pack of lions is because, you know, sometimes lions shy away from things. Hyenas don't care. And we don't care. We ... don't care about who got the most tackles. We see one thing: One guy making the tackle, all the other teammates picking him up, cheering him on and telling him go make another. Because when you do that, you win games."
All four of Neal's seasons in Buffalo have been spent with starting corners Wallace and Tre'Davious White, nickel corner Taron Johnson and starting safeties Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde. If Wallace re-signs, that tradition will continue into 2022.
That's extraordinary continuity in today's NFL. Continuity the Bills value at the bottom of their roster as well as the top.
That could be because Neal looks like the point man for the team's altruism. He re-signed with the hope that Wallace will follow suit, which would ostensibly end any chance of Neal winning a starting job.
No matter.
Individual glory is not why Neal plays this game.
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