SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- For the better part of the past month, defensive tackle DeForest Buckner patiently waited for his phone to ring.
With the Indianapolis Colts struggling and a rebuild underway, Buckner wanted to be traded somewhere he could play meaningful November and December games and pursue Super Bowl championships again. There was only one place he envisioned doing that: San Francisco, the place he began his NFL career.
“I didn’t want to go anywhere else,” Buckner said. “This is where I wanted to be.”
When the San Francisco 49ers and Colts consummated the trade Oct. 27, with the Niners sending a 2027 fourth-round pick to Indianapolis in exchange for Buckner, that call finally came.
Upon getting word from new Colts general manager Ed Dodds that he was, indeed, going back to the team that drafted him No. 7 in 2016, Buckner said he dropped to his knees and began praying.
“It’s just crazy the way everything happened,” Buckner said. “God, he’ll open doors you thought were closed and he was able to open this one back up for me. I’m just trying to make the most of this opportunity.”
Buckner’s return to the Bay Area isn’t just some sentimental reunion. Sure, he joins receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. and linebacker Dre Greenlaw as former 49ers to return in 2026, but there is no hiding from what they hope to get from Buckner -- and what he hopes to get from them -- this time around.
When Buckner last played in a Niners uniform, he was trudging off the field following a devastating loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV. Although that was in February 2020, the 49ers have seven players still on their roster from that game, now including Buckner.
The rest of the list is made up of Greenlaw, Samuel, fullback Kyle Juszczyk, tight end George Kittle, defensive end Nick Bosa and linebacker Fred Warner. It’s no coincidence that as Buckner’s name picked up steam in trade rumors, that group spearheaded the efforts to bring him back.
Bosa mentioned the idea of trading for Buckner to coach Kyle Shanahan a couple of months ago. Kittle and Juszczyk discussed it with other teammates and personnel types, remaining in contact with Buckner while he was in Indy. Buckner also heard directly from Greenlaw and Samuel at various points. That group holds a bond that Buckner said will “never be broken” from their previous time together.
A common theme in the conversations that group has had over the years? Their shared unfinished business, not just from the Super Bowl loss but in the time that has elapsed since. In some ways, it would make getting over the hump and claiming the franchise’s sixth Lombardi Trophy this season even sweeter.
“It would make a good documentary if we did it,” Bosa joked. “Obviously having him back ... we want to do it this year.”
To be sure, the Niners wouldn’t have prioritized bringing Buckner back if they didn’t think he could be more than a temporary energy boost. The need for help on the defensive line already existed in the preseason with questions at tackle, and that has only grown after injuries to Alfred Collins (patellar tendon) and C.J. West (knee). Rookie Gracen Halton has emerged as part of the DT rotation, but Buckner’s presence should set an example for young players such as Halton and lighten their workload so they can have more success on the field.
Since entering the NFL in 2016, Buckner is one of four players with at least 75 sacks and 25 batted passes, joining Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt, New Orleans’ Cameron Jordan and Kansas City’s Chris Jones. At 32, Buckner has 4.0 sacks this season, which would already put him atop the 49ers’ list.
The team hopes Buckner’s addition and the eventual return of Bosa, who is aiming to play Sunday against the Raiders after missing five games because of a calf injury, should generate a more consistent pass rush without having to blitz. Through seven games, the Niners are getting pressure on just 23% of opponent dropbacks when they rush four, the second-lowest mark in the NFL. And though Buckner is more of a classic 3-technique, similar to Osa Odighizuwa and Halton, he still commands -- and beats -- double-teams on a regular basis. That should allow Buckner to play next to Odighizuwa on the interior.
“You start in a spot, but you have to be interchangeable,” Shanahan said. “I see it as you’ve got two inside guys.”
At kickoff against the Raiders, Buckner will be in his familiar spot, wearing his usual No. 99 after West offered it up without asking for anything in return -- though Buckner said he will take care of West for the gesture.
Sunday will mark 2,471 days since Buckner last played for the Niners. In some ways, after six-plus seasons in Indianapolis, it will have felt like an eternity. In others, flanked once more by Greenlaw, Bosa and Warner, it will feel like he never left at all.
But for Buckner, it will be the first step toward finishing what he and other foundational 49ers started almost a decade ago.
“Me coming back, it’s great,” Buckner said. “It’s a little nostalgic, but there’s still a job to do.
“It’s Super Bowl or bust, and you don’t want to be anywhere else. And that’s why you play the game to form a legacy and to bring the organization back to the top. That’s why I came.”