DeForest Buckner wanted to ‘meet in the middle’ with 49ers before trade to Colts

DeForest Buckner wasn’t the one that got away.

He was the one who was traded away. The 49ers made a conscious decision to send their best defensive player to the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for the No. 13 overall pick in the 2020 draft.

Buckner, one of the NFL’s most dominant interior linemen, didn’t want to go and told general manager John Lynch as much.

“When I had my conversation with John, I told him, ‘Look, my agent is telling me I’m worth this, but obviously I’m able to meet in the middle,’” Buckner said Wednesday in a conference call with Bay Area writers. “Someway, somehow, I want to be here. But I didn’t want to take too big of a pay cut to where I know what I’m actually worth.”

What Buckner was worth to the Colts was four years and $84 million. The 49ers then paid Arik Armstead, one of Buckner’s closest friends, five years and $85 million. Then they drafted Javon Kinlaw at No. 14 (trading back one spot with Tampa Bay) and figured they had it covered.

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On Sunday night, Buckner will play his first game at Levi’s Stadium since the trade when the 49ers (2-3) host the Indianapolis Colts (2-4).

“I miss Buck a lot,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. “Knew we would. That was a very tough decision. Not one that we wanted to do.”

It was an instance where bean-counting took priority over keeping an important player on the roster. It doesn’t happen often — think Khalil Mack and the Raiders.

“We wanted to keep Buck bad,” Shanahan said. “But we had to look at all that stuff. It isn’t something we were high-fiving over when it happened.”

Slowed by a foot injury during part of training camp, Buckner is coming off his best game in a 31-3 win over the Houston Texans, with two tackles for losses and his second sack of the season.

Lynch has called dealing Buckner one of the hardest calls he’s ever had to make as a general manager. Safety Jimmie Ward on Monday called Buckner the “heart and soul” of the 49ers’ defense and wondered how other teams managed to squeeze in premium players under the salary cap.

“Initially, I was like, the Chiefs did it after winning the Super Bowl,” Buckner said. “Tampa Bay did it. The Rams did it. Essentially, people put the effort to find a way. But some guys don’t and it doesn’t go your way. These are the cards I was dealt.”

Buckner had not only been a standout on the field, but a fixture in the locker room and in the community.

“I built a lot of great relationships, from guys like Wayne the custodian in the locker room, to the owners, the Yorks,” Buckner said. “I built relationships with everyone. If we had a new guy that came in, I’d go up and introduce myself, things like that.”

One of those people was quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who arrived via trade from New England on Halloween in 2017.

“DeFo was one of the first guys to come up to me,” Garoppolo said. “He was very welcoming. A guy of his stature, he has a presence about him. That’s a tough part of the business to see guys go like that. I’ve seen both sides of that. It’ll be cool to see him, but it’s business, I guess.”

Buckner keeps in touch with 49ers linebacker Fred Warner.

“We talk frequently,” Warner said. “He was one of the first to congratulate me when I signed my deal. I’m super happy for his success in Indy. He’s continued to take strides and leaps in his game and is a heck of a player.”

An All-Pro defensive tackle with the Colts last season, Buckner’s presence has been difficult to replace. Armstead hasn’t ascended to the level his contract suggests and Kinlaw is managing a knee injury which could be an issue all season.

Initially dismayed, Buckner now believes the trade was the best thing that could have happened to him. He’s adjusted to winters in Indiana after growing up in Hawaii, playing collegiately at Oregon and then with the 49ers.

“I feel like I grew from that move,” Buckner said. “It made me step out of my comfort zone in a lot of ways. It helped me grow as a man, as a player, as a teammate, as a father, a husband and a leader.

“In the moment, when it was official, if you’d told me I was going to feel this way a year and a half later I would have said you’re crazy. But everything happens for a reason and the Lord put me here and I’m very happy for the decisions that were made.”