The San Francisco 49ers made a concerted effort to get younger and faster coming into the 2025 season. With training camp fast approaching, that could mean several veteran players are in trouble.
Kevin Givens appears to be one of them.
The veteran defensive tackle has been a solid player for the Niners. He debuted with the team in 2019 and has had a knack for hanging around every season. Last season, Givens had 3.5 sacks and 11 combined tackles in eight games played. Those efforts led to San Francisco bringing him back in the offseason.
There is definitely an argument to be made that Givens will stick around yet again, but with all of the changes San Francisco made to the defensive line in the offseason, he could end up being another casualty.
The 49ers basically remade their D-line this offseason. Obviously, Nick Bosa is still around, but the team got rid of Leonard Floyd and Maliek Collins and then proceeded to draft edge rusher Mykel Williams as well as defensive tackles Alfred Collins and C.J. West.
Still, some analysts believe the Niners have one of the weakest defensive tackle rooms in the NFL.
The additions of Collins and West pose the biggest threat to Givens' spot on the roster. The Niners just officially signed Collins, and they are certainly hoping the University of Texas product will establish himself as a key part of the defensive line for years to come.
West also showed a lot of promise in college at the University of Oklahoma, so in a dream scenario West and Collins would turn into the same combo that Arik Armstead and DeForest Buckner were in the heart of the D-line.
Of course, things do not always work out that way. That is why the 49ers have Givens and Jordan Elliot. Both are essentially veteran contingency plans in case their rookies do not pan out how they hope in their first year of NFL action.
Yet, contingency plans in the NFL can quickly become cut candidates especially with a team like the Niners that has proven they are not afraid to cut veterans to save a buck.
If Collins and West prove themselves in training camp and Givens looks like he has lost a step, it would not come as a huge shock if the 49ers moved on from him even though he has been a dependable player for so long.
Givens has found a way to survive on the roster for years, but perhaps 2025 will be the year he gets overtaken by younger talent and loses his spot on the roster.