Since 2020, the Buffalo Bills have come about as close to the Super Bowl as you can get without ever actually appearing in one. Their 73-27 regular-season record from 2020 through 2025 is the NFL’s best, and you’d think that .730 win rate would get you somewhere in the postseason.
But the 8-6 playoff record tells the sad tale.
There were four different playoff losses to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs when that team was assembling the closest thing to a dynasty we’ll see in the modern NFL, there was the 27-10 thrashing at the hands of the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2022 divisional round, and there was the 33-30 divisional round overtime loss to the Denver Broncos in which multiple calls that went against Buffalo helped to decide things.
Now, the 7-1 Bills are looking to get past all their prior ghosts. They have one of the NFL’s best offenses with Josh Allen and James Cook as the marquee guys, and they hired Jim Leonhard to be their new defensive coordinator after firing head coach Sean McDermott this past offseason and replacing him with the promotion of offensive coordinator Joe Brady. That defense has been far more suspect than the offense — right now, the Bills rank third in Offensive DVOA, and 18th in Defensive DVOA.
The Bills’ safety rotation has been a major part of the problem. With Cole Bishop, the recently released C.J. Gardner-Johnson, and Damar Hamlin as the primary guys, that group has been below average in just about every category.
Which is why the Bills sent a 2027 second-round draft pick to the Tennessee Titans on Tuesday for safety Amani Hooker and a 2027 fifth-round draft pick. This season, Hooker has allowed 20 catches on 29 targets for 223 yards, two touchdowns, five interceptions, one pass breakup, and an opponent passer rating of 75.0. Hooker also has 40 solo tackles, 10 stops, a tackle for loss, and two quarterback pressures on the season.
Hooker is also quite effectively versatile — this season, he’s played 35% of his 495 defensive snaps as a single-high safety, 28% as a split safety, 24% in the box, and 12% in the slot. His premier game in 2026 came in Tennessee’s Week 8 game against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Titans lost 43-36 in an overtime nail-biter, but Hooker picked Joe Burrow off three times in his final game with the team that selected him in the fourth round of the 2019 draft.
“The opportunity here is tremendous, and it’s exciting,” Hooker said once he landed in Buffalo. “To be in this position with a contender, it’s a dream come true. I’ve always wanted to be in this position.”
Hooker should be happy about it — going from a 1-7 team to a 7-1 team is a pretty exciting prospect. Moreover, Hooker’s new teammates are already excited about what he can bring.
“The belief is there, and going out and adding the guy who leads the league in interceptions right now, that’s something that anybody’s going to be happy about,” Josh Allen said. “Our front office did what they did, and we’re extremely excited to have him.
“We’re trying to get him as in tune with our culture. Obviously, the defensive scheme, that’ll come, but making sure that he’s feeling a part of the team as quickly as possible and feeling like a Buffalo Bill.”
Actually, Hooker is tied with Xavier McKinney of the Green Bay Packers for the league lead in picks, but the point still stands.
Odds are, nobody in Buffalo is more overjoyed about this deal than Leonhard.
“I’ve been a big fan of his game for a long time,” Leonhard said on Thursday. “Obviously, it goes back to watching him in the Big Ten, being rivals there [Hooker played for Iowa when Leonhard was coaching at Wisconsin], and then just watching how he’s progressed throughout his career in the NFL.
“I’ve always felt like he’s a complete safety, right? He can play in space. He can play down by the box. He covers. He tackles. You know, he finds the football. So, I’ve been a fan of his for a long time. I think he makes his defense better. You know, that was the biggest thing as you’re looking into potential trades or moves at the deadline. I really felt like he helped complete this defense, and I’m excited to get to work with him.”
It will take Hooker a minute to get up to speed with the Bills’ defense, and all the ways in which it’s different from the Titans’, but don’t be surprised if Hooker has a full plate of snaps when his new team takes on the New York Jets this Sunday.
More importantly for the longer term, Hooker could well be the centerpiece of a defense in need of improvement, and he’s got all the skills to help. If this acquisition becomes a fundamental reason that the Bills finally break that Super Bowl ceiling, don’t be at all surprised.
