The Indianapolis Colts officially launched a fire sale on Tuesday after trading away two star players – DeForest Buckner and Quenton Nelson – within hours of each other.Guard Nelson went first, to the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, before defensive tackle Buckner was sent back to the San Francisco 49ers after they traded him to Indianapolis in 2020.It comes just over a week after Colts owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon finally axed Chris Ballard, the team’s beleaguered general manager. Assistant general manager Ed Dodds has replaced Ballard for now.As they look to acquire future draft picks for a much-needed rebuild, other Colts stars up for grabs could include star running back Jonathan Taylor.In exchange for Nelson, the Seahawks are sending a 2027 third-round pick and a 2028 fifth-round selection to Indianapolis. In return for Buckner, the 49ers are trading a 2027 fourth-round pick to the Colts. DeForest Buckner was sent back to the San Francisco 49ers, who sent him to the Colts in 2020 The Colts also agreed to trade guard Quenton Nelson to the Seattle Seahawks earlier Tuesday49ers star George Kittle was delighted by the news of Buckner’s impending return, posting a picture of the pair of them with teammate Kyle Juszczyk at the Pro Bowl and writing: ‘THE BOYS ARE BACK.’The three-time Pro Bowl selection was picked seventh overall by the 49ers in the 2016 NFL Draft. He spent six seasons in San Francisco and helped the team reach the Super Bowl in 2019.He was later traded to the Colts in exchange for the 13th overall pick in March 2020 and while he has impressed during his spell with Indy, the team has never got close to the Super Bowl.Buckner had expressed his displeasure with what’s happened after each of Indy’s past two losses.’How about you guess?’ Buckner said in Minnesota when asked about his level of his frustration. ‘Yeah, I´m frustrated. Same thing: We lost.’Now he’s back with the franchise where he started his career. This season, his seventh with Indy, he has 31 tackles and four sacks.He finishes his Colts tenure with 420 tackles and 47 sacks. Buckner had 263 tackles and 28.5 sacks in four seasons with the 49ers before he was acquired in a 2020 trade.Buckner will now form a devastating defensive line partnership with Nick Bosa as Kyle Shanahan’s team look to build on their 6-1 start and return to the Super Bowl in Los Angeles on February 14. Colts owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon finally fired GM Chris Ballard last week afteryears of struggleNelson, the league’s third-highest paid guard, had been a stalwart on the offensive line for nearly a decade in Indy. But his contract expires after the season, and Nelson has been reluctant to discuss his future plans following the Ballard move.’I just feel like everyone came to work and are doing their best,’ Nelson said after Indy lost its third straight last weekend, 16-10 at Minnesota. ‘I don’t know what else to say.’Indy was willing to trade Nelson because it wants more draft capital to make up for the loss of 2026 and 2027 first-round picks that were sent to the New York Jets last November to acquire All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner.The Colts’ season is spiraling with 12 losses in 14 games going back to last season with a Sunday matchup in Jacksonville looming. The deal continues a great few days for the Seahawks after Mike Macdonald’s team returned to form with a dominant 20-3 win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night.