DeForest Buckner is going back to San Francisco. The Indianapolis Colts agreed Tuesday, Oct. 27, to trade the three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle to the 49ers for a 2027 fourth-round pick, first reported by The Ringer’s Tom Pelissero and confirmed by sources speaking to ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Neither team had announced the deal as of Tuesday evening.
It’s the Colts’ second big trade with an NFC West team in the same day. Hours earlier, Indianapolis agreed to send guard Quenton Nelson to Seattle. At 2-5 and riding a three-game losing streak, the Colts are selling, and interim GM Ed Dodds is collecting draft picks with the Nov. 10 trade deadline still two weeks away, Yahoo Sports reported.
The homecoming angle writes itself. San Francisco drafted Buckner in the first round in 2016 and traded him to Indianapolis in 2020. Now 32, he still produces: four sacks, 31 tackles and eight quarterback hits through seven games, according to 49ers Webzone, with 75.5 sacks for his career.
The money explains the modest price. Buckner is in the last year of his deal and is set to hit free agency in March. Pelissero reported the 49ers will cover the roughly $7.9 million left on his salary this season, while Yahoo, citing Over the Cap, noted the Colts will carry $10.8 million in dead money.
The frustration in Indianapolis wasn’t hidden, either. After a loss to the previously winless Titans, Buckner said he was “sick and tired of the same song and dance every year,” per Yahoo.
For San Francisco, the fit is obvious. The 49ers are 6-1, and injuries have thinned their defensive line depth, per 49ers Webzone. Buckner gives them a proven interior rusher for the stretch run without costing a premium pick.
Why it matters
McGraw Media’s read: this is a smart, low-risk swing by a contender and an honest admission by a team that’s out of it. A fourth-rounder for a three-time Pro Bowler on an expiring deal is the kind of price buyers dream about in late October, and San Francisco gets a player who already knows the building. For Indianapolis, two veteran cornerstones gone in one day tells you the rebuild isn’t coming. It’s here. If Dodds keeps dealing before Nov. 10, Colts fans should read it as a plan, not a panic.
This story was drafted with AI assistance and fact-checked by McGraw Media.
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