49ers To Acquire DT DeForest Buckner

The 32-year-old Buckner is returning to San Francisco, where he spent the first four seasons of his career. The 49ers selected Buckner seventh overall in the 2016 draft, former general manager Trent Baalke’s last with the team, and saw the former Oregon Duck blossom into a force in the pros.

Buckner missed just one game in his first four years, started in all 63 appearances and piled up 74 quarterback hits and 28.5 sacks. He also earned a Pro Bowl nod and helped the 49ers win the NFC in 2019, but they fell to the Chiefs, 31-20, in Super Bowl LIV.

The loss to Kansas City was Buckner’s last game with the 49ers, who traded him to the Colts for the 13th pick in the 2020 draft. Bucker immediately inked a four-year, $84MM contract with the Colts, and though success has largely eluded the team since then, he has remained a high-end contributor.

Over six-plus seasons with the Colts, Buckner – now a three-time Pro Bowler – tallied 122 QB hits and 47 sacks. The normally durable Buckner did combine for a dozen absences from 2024-25, including a career-high seven a season ago. Buckner even contemplated retirement after dealing with a serious neck injury last year, but he came back at full strength this season and was a rare bright spot for a floundering 2-5 Indianapolis team. While playing around 82% of defensive snaps before the trade, Buckner chipped in 31 tackles (four for loss), eight QB hits, four sacks and three pass deflections.

San Francisco is coming off a loss to Atlanta in Week 7, but at 6-1, the 49ers are clear-cut Super Bowl contenders who are in prime position to strike before the deadline. They are picking up a major piece in Buckner, who is in a contract year and earning a $13MM base salary. Buckner carries a lofty $26.6MM cap hit, but with a league-leading $42.6MM at their disposal, the 49ers had more than enough spending room to reunite with him. They will pay all of the remaining $7.944MM on Buckner’s deal, according to Pelissero.

Although their defense ranks top 10 in yards (fourth), points (sixth) and EPA per play (10th), it’s an area GM John Lynch wanted to bolster before the Buckner trade. On paper, acquiring Buckner should help a unit that ranks just 19th in pass rush win rate and 20th in sacks. While also serving as a powerful response to the NFC West rival Seahawks’ Nelson pickup, trading for Buckner ought to help the 49ers overcome injuries to D-tackles Alfred Collins and CJ West. Collins tore his patellar tendon in the run-up to Week 1, which ended his season before it began, and West has been on IR with a bone chip in his knee for over a month.

It was just a year ago that the Colts were riding high as the deadline approached. With his team off to a 7-2 start, GM Chris Ballard sent two first-rounders and wide receiver Adonai Mitchell to the Jets for cornerback Sauce Gardner. However, thanks in part to a slew of injuries (including to Buckner and Gardner), the Colts spiraled to an 8-9 finish and extended their playoff drought to five years. Ballard entered this season in a make-or-break situation as a result, but he had a short leash. After a 2-4 start, owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon fired him.

Interim GM Ed Dodds, who is leading a teardown in Ballard’s place, cleared upward of $17.7MM in cap space and added much-needed draft capital in the Nelson and Buckner swaps. The deadline is still two weeks away, giving Dodds plenty of time to listen to offers for running back Jonathan Taylor, receiver Josh Downs and defensive tackle Grover Stewart, among other Colts trade candidates.