Colts Designating DT DeForest Buckner To Return

This opens a three-week window for him to practice with the team before he has to be added to the active roster. 

It’s some much-needed good news on the injury front for Indianapolis. He’s been out since the beginning of November with a neck injury. 

Buckner, 31, is a former first-round pick of the 49ers back in 2016 out of Oregon. He was in the final year of his four-year, $18.19 million contract when the 49ers picked up his fifth-year option. 

San Francisco traded Buckner to the Colts for a first-round pick in 2020. Indianapolis promptly signed Buckner to a four-year, $84 million extension. 

He was due $20.25 million in the final year of the deal and later signed a two-year, $46 million extension with the Colts.

In 2025, Buckner has appeared in nine games for the Colts and recorded 42 tackles, four sacks, and nine tackles for loss.