Indianapolis sends the veteran defensive tackle to San Francisco for a fourth-round pick as the roster teardown continues.
The Colts have traded DeForest Buckner to the 49ers, the team that originally drafted him seventh overall back in 2016. Indianapolis gets a fourth-round pick in return, a modest haul for a player who has spent years as one of the most respected voices in the locker room.
Buckner arrived in Indianapolis via trade before the 2020 season and gave the Colts everything he had, playing through a dislocated joint in his hand, a torn UCL in his elbow, a badly sprained ankle, a recurring back issue and a herniated disc in his neck that threatened his career in 2025. He stuck around after the team's collapse in 2022 despite being frustrated and furious, but his patience with the franchise's direction has clearly run out over the past two weeks.
This is the latest move in what looks like a deliberate dismantling of the Colts roster, with Buckner becoming the next significant piece shipped out. For San Francisco, it is a reunion with a player who was part of the core they drafted nearly a decade ago, now walking back into a defensive line that gets a proven interior presence.