John Lynch On Trading DeForest Buckner: “Toughest Thing I’ve Done” As G.M

John Lynch made a bold move this offseason when he decided to trade All-Pro defensive tackle, DeForest Buckner to the Indianapolis Colts this offseason. The decision in my mind made a lot of sense, but that doesn’t mean it was easy. The 49ers re-signed Arik Armstead, but losing Buckner leaves a huge void on the defensive line.

John Lynch talked about trading DeForest Buckner today. San Francisco’s GM called it the ‘toughest thing I’ve done’ as a gm:

“Probably the toughest thing I’ve done since I’ve been a General Manager here, and that’s the trade with DeForest Buckner,” Lynch said, via Nick Wagoner of ESPN. “It’s a difficult part of this business. One that I don’t think you can really prepare yourself when you move on from a player who embodies everything that you want to be about. We spend a lot of time talking about what’s a 49er to us, and DeForest Buckner embodied that in every way both on and off the field.”

I think San Fran made the right move here. They picked Buckner with the 7th pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. They got 4 years of quality cheap production to trade him and get the 13th pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. That’s smart business if you ask me. The Colts gave Buckner $84 million over 4 years. That makes Buckner the 2nd highest paid defensive tackle in football.

Paying him that kind of money isn’t feasible. Especially a team that has cap issues coming. San Fran was able to keep Armstead that will pay him $17 million per year. They’re already stuck paying Dee Ford and need to keep cap to give Nick Bosa his eventual extension. Now, this will look dumb if San Fran whiffs with this pick but it looks like a very deep draft.