NFL Trade Deadline Grades: Who Won The DeForest Buckner, Quenton Nelson Deals?

And just like that, the NFL trade deadline season has arrived.

The Indianapolis Colts made sure of that on Tuesday. They traded a pair of franchise cornerstones within a few hours, agreeing to deals to trade defensive tackle DeForest Buckner to the San Francisco 49ers and guard Quenton Nelson to the Seattle Seahawks.

We’ll almost certainly see more trades to come over the next couple of weeks, and all signs indicate that Indianapolis might not be done trading yet. But as we await more trades, let’s grade the deals the Colts made on Tuesday as we inch closer to the Nov. 10 trade deadline.

49ers receive: DT DeForest Buckner

Colts receive: 2027 fourth-round pick

Eric D. Williams: The Indianapolis Colts shipped Buckner back to the team that selected him as the seventh overall pick of the 2016 draft as part of that team’s fire sale. Indianapolis received a fourth-round pick for the 32-year-old rangy defensive tackle. A cornerstone for the Colts defensively, Buckner has four sacks, eight quarterback hits and 31 combined tackles in seven games. 

Buckner should give San Francisco a pass rush boost. The 49ers finished with a league-low 20 sacks last season and this year hasn’t been much better, with 15 sacks (tied for 20th) so far this season. The 49ers are expecting the team’s best pass rusher, Nick Bosa, to return at some point this season from a calf injury. Paired with his former teammate in Buckner, the two should form a potent pass-rushing tandem for San Francisco, which is expected to compete for a deep postseason run. 

For the Colts, they get some draft compensation to start the rebuilding process after a disappointing start to the season that led to the firing of general manager Chris Ballard. But they’re also giving up a foundational player who is still productive and a leader within their organization and still has good ball left in him. 

The draft compensation is on the low side for a player of Buckner’s stature, even though he’s on an expiring contract and set to hit free agency at the end of this year. 

49ers grade: B+

Colts grade: C+

Seahawks receive: G Quenton Nelson

Colts receive: 2027 third-round pick, 2028 fifth-round pick

Ben Arthur: This was a brilliant move by Seahawks general manager John Schneider. In Nelson, an eight-time Pro Bowler and six-time All-Pro selection, Seattle gets a massive boost for Sam Darnold’s protection and an anchor upfront for what’s been an uneven rushing attack through seven weeks. 

With the Seahawks set to receive a third-round pick for losing executive Nolan Teasley, who became the Minnesota Vikings’ general manager, the team still has a third-round selection for 2027. And Seattle is also set to receive two fifth-round compensatory picks this year (free-agent departures of Kenneth Walker III, Riq Woolen), so a 2028 fifth-rounder is even more palpable than it already was for a player of Nelson’s caliber. 

The Nelson deal kicked off the Colts’ fire sale and was necessary, as Indianapolis needs all the picks it can get to supercharge a rebuild without a first-round pick. 

Seahawks grade: A

Colts grade: B+