DeForest Buckner is going home. The Indianapolis Colts sent the veteran defensive tackle back to the San Francisco 49ers on Tuesday, and in return they get a fourth-round selection in the 2027 NFL Draft. The team confirmed the deal in a release on Tuesday evening, a little over an hour after the first reports of the trade surfaced.
San Francisco is where Buckner’s NFL story began. The 49ers made him the seventh overall pick in 2016, and he spent four seasons in the Bay Area before Indianapolis paid a first-round pick to bring him to the AFC South in 2020.
Seven productive years in Indianapolis
Buckner gave the Colts plenty for that first-rounder. According to the team, he piled up 47 sacks, 122 quarterback hits and 63 tackles for loss across 95 games with Indianapolis, 90 of them as a starter. He also forced six fumbles, knocked down 20 passes at the line, earned first-team All-Pro honors from the AP in 2020 and made Pro Bowl rosters in 2021 and 2023.
He is 32 now and coming off neck surgery that ended his 2025 season, but he has looked healthy this fall. He has started all seven games for Indianapolis, with four sacks, 31 combined tackles and three pass breakups, per CBS Sports. Over his whole career he owns 75.5 sacks and has been a Pro Bowl pick three times.
Indianapolis keeps selling
The Buckner move was the second big subtraction of the day for the Colts. Earlier on Tuesday, they shipped guard Quenton Nelson to the Seattle Seahawks for a 2027 third-round pick and a 2028 fifth-round pick. Taken together, the two trades added three draft choices and freed up more than $17.7 million in salary cap space, CBS Sports noted.
The direction is not hard to read. Indianapolis is 2-5 and has already parted ways with general manager Chris Ballard, so two of the most recognizable veterans on the roster are now gone in a single afternoon. CBS Sports also named Josh Downs, the wide receiver, and running back Jonathan Taylor as players who could follow, though nothing beyond the Nelson and Buckner deals has been announced. For more on the club, see our Indianapolis Colts coverage.
A familiar face for a contender
San Francisco is in a very different place. The 49ers are 6-1 and lead the NFC West after a hot start that included a win over Washington that took them to 6-0. Their defense has been among the stingiest in the league, giving up 299.3 total yards per game, and Buckner now joins a front that includes Nick Bosa, Osa Odighizuwa, Mykel Williams and linebacker Fred Warner.
Bosa has missed several games with a calf injury, which makes a proven interior rusher a timely addition. Tight end George Kittle wasted no time welcoming his former teammate back on social media.
The 49ers do not play again until November 8, when they face the Las Vegas Raiders, so Buckner will have time to settle back in before his second debut in red and gold.
