Bills Land the NFL's Interception Leader, and the Chiefs and 49ers Pull Receivers Out of Indianapolis Before the Trade Deadline

By The Arena Staff

Kirk Cousins' return to Minnesota got the headlines, but he wasn't the only veteran on the move before Tuesday's 4 p.m. ET trade deadline. A handful of teams with real playoff plans spent picks to patch the holes they'd been staring at for two months.

The priciest of the three was in Buffalo. The Bills sent a 2027 second-round pick to Tennessee for safety Amani Hooker and a 2027 fifth-rounder, according to NFL.com and ESPN, one day after beating Minnesota 23-6 on Monday night.

Hooker, 28, leads the NFL with five interceptions, and three of them came against Cincinnati's Joe Burrow on Nov. 1, USA Today reported. He has 52 tackles and six pass breakups in his first season under Robert Saleh and can play either safety spot, ESPN said. Buffalo's safety room had thinned out after the team released C.J. Gardner-Johnson before Week 9. Hooker is signed through 2028 and has spent all eight of his NFL seasons with the Titans, who have now traded two defensive captains after sending Jeffery Simmons to Chicago last month.

San Francisco went after a receiver. The 49ers gave Indianapolis a 2027 sixth-round pick for Keenan Allen, the Colts announced. Allen, who signed with the Colts in August, had 40 catches on 58 targets for 351 yards and a touchdown in eight games, and his 1,095 career receptions rank eighth in NFL history, according to Colts.com. It was the Colts' second deal with the 49ers in a month, after they sent DeForest Buckner west for a fourth-round pick.

It wasn't Indianapolis' last receiver sale of the day. Kansas City acquired Josh Downs and a 2027 seventh-round pick from the Colts for 2027 fourth- and fifth-round picks, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport and ESPN's Adam Schefter reported. Downs, who was reported on Oct. 28 to have asked for a trade, has 33 catches for 354 yards and a touchdown this season, and NFL.com called him a much-needed addition for a Chiefs team short on difference-makers at wideout.

Then there was the division swap nobody usually makes. Denver acquired linebacker Daiyan Henley from the Chargers for a 2027 fourth-round pick and a 2028 fifth-rounder, ProFootballTalk and NFL.com reported. Henley, a defensive captain in the last year of his rookie deal, has started every game but one for the Chargers over the last three seasons. ProFootballTalk summed it up neatly: the winless, last-place team in the AFC West traded him to the first-place team.

Add those to Monday's spree in Jacksonville, where the Jaguars traded for Jessie Bates III, Davon Godchaux and Jordan Davis, and it's clear which teams think this season is worth chasing.