Grading the trade: San Francisco 49ers reunite with former All-Pro DeForest Buckner in shocking deal that could transform their defense
The 49ers reunited with three-time Pro Bowler DeForest Buckner for just a fourth-round pick, giving San Francisco a major defensive line upgrade at a surprisingly low price.
Well, well, well. The San Francisco 49ers have a reunion on their hands after trading for Indianapolis Colts defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, and I love this move. The three-time Pro Bowler is heading back to the Bay, and all San Francisco had to give up was a 2027 fourth-round pick.
The Colts began their fire-sale earlier today by trading Quenton Nelson to San Francisco’s NFC West foe in the Seattle Seahawks. Now, the 49ers are capitalizing off of the Colts future plans just like their rivals. And again, all it took was a fourth-round pick.
That is a steal for a player who still wins up front every week.
Why the Buckner trade is a home run for the 49ers
Start with familiarity. The 49ers are bringing back a guy they already know. GM John Lynch knows him, Kyle Shanahan knows him, and plenty of his teammates know him. There is no guesswork about how Buckner fits in that locker room.
Now, the bigger point is that Buckner is still playing good football at 32. He finished 2025 with only four sacks. He already has four sacks in 2026 with the Colts, and we aren’t anywhere near the end of the season. He is playing at a high level, and he is going to bolster this San Francisco defensive front.
Obviously, the 49ers needed the help. The defensive line has been banged up all year. Mykel Williams just returned recently.
Nick Bosa has still been out with an injury, but he is expected to return soon.
San Francisco brought in Osa Odighizuwa in the offseason and drafted Gracen Halton in the fourth round out of Oklahoma. Those two have played fairly decent football, and Halton has looked solid at times. Still, the 49ers lost Alfred Collins, who was slated to start, after he suffered an injury in practice in Australia right before the season opener.
Buckner fills a real hole on San Francisco’s defensive front.
A look back at Buckner’s first run in San Francisco
Let’s take a quick trip back in time. The 49ers selected Deforest Buckner with the 7th overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft. He racked up 28.5 sacks during his time in San Francisco and earned both an All-Pro nod and a Pro Bowl selection with the Niners. He then carried that success over to Indianapolis.
The original trade did not age well for San Francisco. Back in 2020, the 49ers sent Buckner to Indy for the 13th pick in the draft, which they used on Javon Kinlaw. In hindsight, that was not a great deal for the Niners.
This one, on the other hand, is a big hit. I would give this trade an A for San Francisco.
The timing matters just as much as the player
I’m also a huge fan of the timing from Buckner’s side of things. The 49ers are heading into the bye, so he gets roughly a week and a half to settle back in San Francisco and learn the system without having to play a game. That is a luxury most midseason trade acquisitions never get.
It also hands defensive coordinator Raheem Morris a new tool up front. The pass rush has been inconsistent all season. San Francisco pressured Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. only three times in last week’s loss to Atlanta, and that cannot happen against good quarterbacks in January.
With Buckner in the middle, I don’t see a performance like that happening again the rest of the season. He should help a lot with that pressure problem, especially once Bosa is back on the field next to him.
Final Grade for the trade: A
This is easily a win on behalf of the San Francisco 49ers by bringing Deforest Buckner back home. They will get an instant impact from him, as well as a player who is already familiar with the organization and his teammates. The only acclimation will be to Raheem Morris’ system, which I don’t expect to take long.
The loss to the Falcons stung. But the 49ers are clearly Super Bowl contenders at this point in the season, and the front office is behaving like it.
This team knows it’s good enough to win it all. Lynch and Shanahan saw an opportunity, paid a minimal price to obtain it, and brought home a familiar face who is still producing. I think Buckner is going to be huge for this defense the rest of the way, and San Francisco just won this trade going away.
