The Indianapolis Colts are getting a jumpstart on the NFL trade deadline, agreeing to pair of deals to send starting defensive tackle DeForest Buckner to the San Francisco 49ers, and guard Quenton Nelson to the Seattle Seahawks.
Nelson, who has made the Pro Bowl in each of his first 8 NFL seasons, will join the reigning Super Bowl champions in exchange for a 2027 third round pick, and a 2028 fifth round selection. It’s unclear whether he will slot in at his usual left guard position with the Seahawks, or if the club will keep Grey Zabel in that spot and move Nelson over to the right side.
In any case, the acquisition is a major addition to a Seattle offensive line that has struggled in pass protection in the early part of the season. In a corresponding move, the team has waived guard Christian Hayes who was a 2024 third round pick.
But the Colts weren’t done there, as the club then flipped defensive lineman DeForest Buckner back to the San Francisco 49ers whom he spent the first 4 seasons of his professional career with. In exchange, Indianapolis will receive a 2027 fourth round selection.
Buckner was in the final year of his current deal with the Colts and was slated to become a free agent at season’s end. With the team sitting at 2-5 on the year, it’s likely that there could be additional moves still to come for Indianapolis in the lead up to the NFL trade deadline on November 10th.
San Francisco is once again dealing with a slew of injuries, and their normally ferocious pass rush was only able to generate pressures 3 times against Atlanta on the weekend. With the team off on a bye week, the front office clearly felt this was a good time to make a move and inject some life into their defensive unit before they take on the Raiders on November 8th.
The 32 year old is one of only four players with at least 75 sacks and 25 batted passes since 2016, joining T.J. Watt, Cameron Jordan and Chris Jones. His 4 sacks on the season would be leading the 49ers who are currently without the services of Alfred Collins, C.J. West, James Thompson Jr., Nick Bosa, and Sam Okuayinonu due to a variety of ailments.
Meanwhile, the Colts appear to be waiving the white flag on a season in which ownership promised sweeping changes if they were unable to live up to their expectations. It would appear that the Irsay’s are getting a head start on the rebuild by jettisoning off some long time starters not long after relieving GM Chris Ballard of his duties on October 19th.
Head coach Shane Steichen appears to be on borrowed time at this point, while players such as Josh Downs and Grover Stewart have also seen their names floated as possible trade deadline casualties as well. Star running back Jonathan Taylor would likely command a pretty penny on the trade market, however the organization could opt to keep some of their core intact to help usher in the new era in 2027.
Indianapolis will travel to Jacksonville to take on the Jaguars in an AFC South divisional showdown on Sunday. Kickoff is slated for 1pm ET.
Photo: Erik Drost. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.