Indianapolis Professional Football Team trades DeForest Buckner to San Francisco 49ers for 2027 fourth-round pick
The Indianapolis Professional Football Team on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, traded defensive tackle DeForest Buckner to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for a 2027 fourth-round NFL draft pick, the team announced. Buckner will return to the 49ers, who selected him seventh overall in the 2016 NFL draft. The Indianapolis Professional Football Team acquired Buckner in a 2020 deal that sent a first-round pick to San Francisco; the transaction was reported by Colts.com writer JJ Stankevitz.
Over seven seasons with the Indianapolis Professional Football Team, Buckner played in 95 games with 90 starts and compiled 47 sacks, 122 quarterback hits, 63 tackles for loss, six forced fumbles and 20 passes batted down. He earned first-team AP All-Pro honors in 2020 and was named to the Pro Bowl in 2021 and 2023. Buckner returned from season-ending neck surgery on New Years Eve 2025 and recorded four sacks over the first seven games of the 2026 season.
The club noted that the Buckner trade, combined with a separate trade earlier the same day that sent guard Quenton Nelson to Seattle, increased its future draft capital. The Indianapolis Professional Football Team now holds the following selections in the next two NFL drafts: for 2027 it has a second-round pick; two third-round picks (one from Seattle); two fourth-round picks (one from San Francisco); a fifth-round pick; and two seventh-round picks (one from Buffalo). For 2028 the team holds a first-, second-, third- and fourth-round pick, two fifth-round picks (one from Seattle), a sixth-round pick and a seventh-round pick.
NFL Sports Blog Take
Trading DeForest Buckner to San Francisco for a 2027 fourth-round pick gives the Indianapolis Professional Football Team additional midround draft flexibility after two moves on Oct. 27, 2026. Buckner’s seven-season body of work with the team, which includes AP All-Pro and Pro Bowl recognition and a productive start to 2026 after returning from neck surgery, underscores the value exchanged for that future pick. The accumulation of extra midround selections in 2027 and 2028 provides the front office more opportunities to address roster needs via the draft or to package picks in trades. The full impact will depend on how the team deploys the added draft capital in the coming months.