Colts DT DeForest Buckner Puts Trade Rumors to Bed

After an offseason of trade rumors, DeForest Buckner is ready to focus on the 2023 season with the Indianapolis Colts.

NFL players may act like they do not hear or see the rumors about them, but most know when their name is being thrown around.

That's what happened to Indianapolis Colts defensive tackle DeForest Buckner. The Colts capped off a 4-12-1 season in 2022, and there was much speculation over whether the team was going into a full-scale rebuild. When a team begins to rebuild, they will likely offload players on big contracts, as Buckner has with Indy.

As the offseason began, Buckner's name appeared as a possible trade candidate. The rumor took on a life of its own when a Twitter account stated Buckner had requested a trade from the Colts and wanted to play for a contender. This was news to #99.

"I woke up actually one morning and had two different guys from different teams text me and they were like, ‘Hey man, is it true? You can come over here and play with me,’" Buckner recalled. "I was like, ‘Man, what’s going on right now?’ I checked Twitter and I’m like, ‘Wow.’ I guess I was trending a little bit so I thought it was funny."

Buckner shot down that rumor real quick. The All-Pro responded with a tweet featuring a gif from the famous movie The Wolf of Wall Street, stating he was not leaving the Colts.

I need you to check your sources @nflrums pic.twitter.com/DvF4FYBDBI

— DeForest Buckner (@DeForestBuckner) March 23, 2023

"There was never any talks about me being traded, being released or any of that," Buckner revealed on Wednesday. "It’s the offseason. People like to make headlines, clickbait, and all of that kind of stuff, so I just thought it was funny.

"I sent out a little tweet letting people know I wasn’t going anywhere.”

Wednesday also brought about more assurance that Buckner would be sticking with the Colts. The Colts restructured Buckner's contract by converting $5 million of his 2023 salary into a signing bonus. The restructure creates $2.5 million in cap space for the Colts and fully guarantees Buckner's $19.75 million salary for 2023.

At 29 years old, Buckner is in the prime of his career. After being named First-Team All-Pro in 2020 and a Pro Bowler in 2021, Buckner tallied 74 tackles, 8.0 sacks, 11 tackles for loss, and three forced fumbles a season ago. He was arguably the best player on the Colts last season despite playing through a torn UCL in his left elbow for much of the year.

A player of Buckner's caliber does not want to go through a rebuild. He wants to be in contention for championships, and with the Colts likely drafting a rookie quarterback at the end of the month, Indy is probably a couple of years away, at least, from reaching that level. But a conversation between himself and general manager Chris Ballard helped reassure Buckner of what was ahead.

"I had a conversation with Ballard at the end of the season," Buckner admitted. "It was just a great conversation about – obviously things didn’t go the way we wanted last year and everything. We just had a conversation – him just saying, ‘Trust me.’ We have a great relationship."

"Trust in Ballard" was a phrase used by many Colts fans to begin the general manager's tenure in Indianapolis. It has not been used as much lately due to the disappointing seasons Indy has endured the past couple of years. But Buckner is backing his GM, trusting he can make the right decisions to lead this team back to prominence.

The first big decision Ballard had to make was hiring a new head coach. After Frank Reich was fired midseason and Jeff Saturday took over for a disastrous final eight weeks, Ballard conducted an extensive search to find the man who would lead this team into the future. He settled on Shane Steichen, the former Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator known for his work with quarterbacks and no-nonsense approach to football.

Coach Steichen meets the team. pic.twitter.com/ANrlnsebSL

— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) April 11, 2023

As the Colts reconvened this week to begin their offseason program, Steichen addressed the team for the first time. He spoke of the four pillars he wants to build this team on: Character, preparation, consistency, and relentlessness. The energy was felt by the team right away as Steichen's passion was evident.

"Just the energy that Shane came with – giving some background on himself and really establishing some team rules and obviously the culture and everything that he wants to build around here," Buckner explained. "It’s exciting. It’s a great fresh start.”

Coaches always want to establish a culture and make it clear how they want things done. The key to being a successful coach is getting the players to buy into that culture and vision so everyone is on the same page and pushing towards the same goal. The coach has to believe what he is saying to his players and must demonstrate it with his actions.

Steichen is no different, as he tries to create a culture of high-character players and coaches dedicated to winning and holding each other accountable. Buckner has seen the process unfold with numerous head coaches over the years. He believes Steichen is off to a great start.

"You know it’s real when they practice what they preach and live up to what they’ve been saying from when they came in on the first day," he said. "Obviously, time will tell but obviously we’re all on board. I sat down and had a conversation with him yesterday, getting to know him more, what he envisions and obviously what we envision this team going throughout the season and more. I’m excited to work with Shane.”

Steichen will ultimately be judged on his wins and losses and if he can resurrect the Colts back to perennial AFC challengers. Having the support of a team captain like Buckner is important and goes a long way toward getting the rest of the team to buy in. Time will tell whether this team can achieve what they have set out to do.

Regardless, Buckner will be along for the ride. Whether the Colts win or lose, he's not going anywhere.

Want more Colts content? Check out the latest episode of the Horseshoe Huddle Podcast!

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