The arms race in the NFC West took several leaps forward on Tuesday. The Seattle Seahawks' top rivals, the San Francisco 49ers, have agreed to a trade with the Indianapolis Colts to acquire defensive tackle DeForest Buckner. This happened just hours after the Seahawks acquired guard Quenton Nelson from the Colts. Adam Schefter reported it first at 1:43 p.m. Pacific Time on X:
Trade: Colts are sending three-time Pro-Bowl DT DeForest Buckner back to the 49ers, the team that made him a 2016 first-round pick before dealing him to Indianapolis in 2020, per me and @rapsheet. Now Buckner returns to San Francisco, fortifying the 49ers defensive line. pic.twitter.com/7sPd4Oei20
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 27, 2026
For every roster action in the NFL, there is an equal and opposite reaction. These two NFC West heavyweights are duking it out in the trade market today.
An earlier report from Jordan Schultz made it seem the 49ers felt pressured to respond to their division rival’s blockbuster trade. Certainly, members of the Bay Area media felt that way after losing their minds over the Nelson trade! After being manhandled by the Seahawks in their final regular season game and the divisional round of the NFC playoffs, San Francisco looked like the best team in the conference and had a 3-game lead in the division through just six weeks. That all changed in Week 7. The Seahawks shellacked the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs 20-3 on Sunday Night Football while the 49ers lost to the 2-4 Atlanta Falcons. That caused a massive course correction in the media, where Colin Cowherd ranked the Seahawks No. 1 in his “Herd Hierarchy” power rankings. The general consensus shifted toward what the entire country saw on national television.
The Seahawks capitalized on their momentum by making the move for Nelson this morning. He’s a former No. 6 overall pick who’s made the Pro Bowl all eight seasons he’s played in the NFL. It appears Schultz’s reporting was spot-on, validated by the 49ers making the move for Buckner this afternoon. Those murmurs spread like wildfire, and San Francisco hurried to bring Buckner back to the Bay Area. They drafted him with the No. 7 overall pick in 2016, and he’s been to three Pro Bowls in 10 seasons since. The 49ers traded Buckner to the Colts for their first-round pick in 2020, and now they’ve reacquired him for just a fourth-round pick.
Depending on what happens over the next four weeks, the entire league will be keyed in on the Nelson vs. Buckner matchup when the former Colts teammates face off on the line of scrimmage in Week 12 — this time as division rivals. Follow seahawkswire.usatoday.com and @TheSeahawksWire on X for human analysis of that battle and all other things Seahawks.
This article originally appeared on Seahawks Wire: 49ers acquire DeForest Buckner from Colts after Seahawks land Nelson