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Buckner trade hands Adebawore full-time reps and a chance to turn **36%** snaps into **$5M+** extension math by December.
$23.5M
in 2025 cap space and handing second-year defensive tackle…
36%
of defensive snaps this season while Buckner anchored the…
$46M
extension signed in March 2020 made him the league's…
$12M
over the projected 2025 cap
The Indianapolis Colts traded DeForest Buckner to the Chicago Bears on Tuesday, clearing $23.5M in 2025 cap space and handing second-year defensive tackle Adetomiwa Adebawore a seven-month audition that could rewrite his arbitration math. Adebawore played 36% of defensive snaps this season while Buckner anchored the interior. That rotation ends now.
Buckner's four-year, $46M extension signed in March 2020 made him the league's second-highest-paid interior lineman at the time. He delivered: 7.5 sacks, 44 tackles, and a Pro Bowl nod in 2024. But the Colts are $12M over the projected 2025 cap, and Buckner turns 31 in March. Chicago sent back a 2026 third-round pick and took on the full contract. Indianapolis now has enough room to re-sign cornerback Kenny Moore II and still chase a guard in free agency.
Adebawore, a 2023 second-round pick out of Northwestern, logged 18 tackles and 1.5 sacks across 312 defensive snaps this year. He played 42% of snaps in Weeks 15-18 when the Colts experimented with heavier rotations. His combine numbers—4.96 forty at 282 pounds, 34.5-inch vertical—suggest the athletic ceiling Indianapolis liked on tape. The question is technique: he wins with first-step quickness but gets washed on double teams. Buckner cleaned up those mistakes. Adebawore won't have that cover now.
The timeline matters for contract leverage. Adebawore enters Year 3 of his rookie deal, which pays $1.4M in 2025 and $1.8M in 2026. If he posts 50+ tackles and 5+ sacks as a full-time starter, his camp enters extension talks next offseason comparing him to Dalvin Tomlinson ($11M AAV) or Dre'Mont Jones ($17M AAV). If he plateaus, the Colts decline his fifth-year option in May 2026 and let him walk. The Bears gave Indianapolis optionality. Adebawore gave them the reason to use it.
General manager Chris Ballard has now moved on from three defensive Pro Bowlers since 2022—Buckner, linebacker Shaquille Leonard, and corner Stephon Gilmore. The pattern is cap management over sentiment. Buckner's departure saves $17M in 2026 cash if Indianapolis had kept him. That money funds the next rookie quarterback's supporting cast, assuming the Colts draft one at No. 4 overall in April.
Adebawore's next seven months will be watched by every second-contract DT hoping to parlay a veteran's exit into an eight-figure AAV. Watch the Colts' free-agent visits in March—if they sign a veteran interior lineman, it's a hedge. If they stand pat, Adebawore is the bet. Chicago's OTA schedule begins May 19. Buckner will be there. Adebawore will be in Indianapolis, alone at the one-technique, auditioning.
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