Bills Actually Land Amani Hooker While Bengals and Eagles Settle for a 'Near Trade'

There are two types of NFL front offices at the trade deadline: the ones who actually acquire good players, and the ones who leak that they almost did. The Buffalo Bills just landed Tennessee Titans safety Amani Hooker, while the Cincinnati Bengals and Philadelphia Eagles apparently spent the afternoon exchanging hypotheticals.

If you want to know why Buffalo made the move, just ask Joe Burrow. Hooker is currently averaging 7.4 tackles a game this season and literally just picked Burrow off three times in a single afternoon on November 1st. The Bills looked at a guy who can single-handedly ruin a franchise quarterback's weekend and decided they wanted him on their side.

"Ian Rapoport reported on NFL Live about the 'near' Bengals-Eagles trade and the Bills landing Hooker."

Meanwhile, Ian Rapoport reporting a near trade between the Bengals and Eagles is peak NFL theater. A near trade is just a conversation that failed. Both of these teams desperately need reinforcements, making the inaction objectively hilarious.

Cincinnati is sitting at 6-2, but their injury report reads like a CVS receipt. Ja'Marr Chase is dealing with a concussion, Tee Higgins has a groin issue, and half their secondary is missing practice. Philadelphia is not doing much better, having just dropped a miserable 19-11 game to the New York Giants with a roster that is basically held together by athletic tape and vibes.

For anyone holding Buffalo futures tickets, this is exactly what you want to see. The Bills are coming off a 23-6 dismantling of the Minnesota Vikings, and adding a ball-hawking safety to an already rolling defense is how you actually prepare for January football.

Buffalo gets a plug-and-play starter to lock down the deep third. Cincinnati, on the other hand, gets to trot out a battered roster against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night while wondering if a near trade can play slot corner.