Kevin Givens

Career StatsC-

Year	Team	GP	Sacks	Tkl	TFL
Career		70	8.0	93	20.5
2025		5	0.0	2	0
2024		8	3.5	11	2
2023		17

Current Contract

Contract Value Index (CVI)

The C- Contract Value Index on Kevin Givens' deal stems from how the cap hit lines up against on-field output. At $2.05M AAV on a one-year deal, the 49ers are paying a modest depth rate for a defensive tackle—but "modest" doesn't redeem limited availability and production. Givens logged just 2 tackles across 5 games in the 2025 season, a stat line that reflects the durability red flags that have haunted his tenure; when a seven-year veteran is spending stretches on injured reserve rather than accumulating snaps, the organization's framing of him as rotation depth rather than a cornerstone becomes the only rational cap allocation. At 29 years old and in his seventh professional season, Givens is squarely in the replacement-level tier, a player whose familiarity within the system no longer offsets the injury risk and negligible statistical impact that have defined his recent campaigns. The single-year structure offers the 49ers an exit ramp without dead-cap complications, but it also signals zero long-term confidence in his role—the organization's recent offseason activity, concentrated on backfield additions and defensive secondary reinforcements, confirms that Givens occupies a depth slot unlikely to expand. His CVI grade reflects the hard truth: you're paying a backup's rate for a backup's availability and output, which is defensible cap management but hardly a value proposition worth celebrating heading into 2026.

Contracts in the Same Value Band

Other same-position deals the Contract Value Index also places in the C band — a quick read on where Kevin's contract sits relative to comparable money.

Performance Analysis

Production at DT earns Kevin Givens a C- performance grade in the current sample. The 29-year-old seven-year veteran delivered minimal impact during his limited 2025 season availability, posting just 2 tackles across 5 games—a counting stat that underscores both his restricted snap share and his inability to generate consistent pass-rush pressure when he was on the field. His career production of 8 sacks over six NFL seasons reflects a below-average statistical profile for a defensive lineman, one that has never justified a significant role in any rotation he's entered. The durability question is the defining constraint here: recurring IR activations have made him unreliable as a consistent contributor, and the 2025 campaign exemplified that problem—missing 11 games meant he could not establish himself as a rotational piece worth monitoring. At $2.0M AAV, the 49ers clearly view him as depth rather than a foundational defender, and that organizational framing aligns with the media narrative of a player whose injury history has eroded whatever goodwill his six years in San Francisco might have built. Heading into the 2026 season in the preseason phase, Givens is best characterized as a replacement-level depth contributor whose availability and production remain perpetually questioned—a depth piece in a crowded defensive line room with no clear pathway to meaningful snaps.

How Kevin Compares at the Position

Kevin Givens ranks 119th of 216 graded defensive tackles by performance. That slots Kevin between Jahvaree Ritzie (C-) just ahead and Darius Alexander (C-) just behind.

Current Sentiment

Kevin Givens heads into the 2026 season carrying a D public perception grade, and the narrative around the seven-year veteran is about as bleak as that mark suggests. The driving force behind the negative sentiment is straightforward: recurring injury concerns have defined his recent tenure with San Francisco, with multiple IR stints cementing a reputation as a player whose availability is perpetually in question rather than a reliable rotation piece. That perception aligns directly with his D- performance grade — 2 tackles across just 5 games in the 2025 season tells the story of a defensive tackle who simply hasn't been on the field enough to matter, and 8 career sacks over six NFL seasons doesn't generate the kind of statistical credibility that might offset the durability concerns. His $2.0M AAV contract signals that the organization itself views him as depth, not a cornerstone, and that organizational framing has filtered directly into how fans and media interpret his value to the defensive line. Recent headlines only deepen the skepticism — the fact that his most prominent news cycle involves being activated off IR rather than any on-field performance speaks volumes about where the narrative lives. Meanwhile, San Francisco's offseason activity, highlighted by the addition of veteran offensive tackle Trent Williams, suggests a front office operating with bigger priorities than shoring up Givens' spot in the rotation, further marginalizing his presence in the conversation. The bottom line is that Givens enters 2026 as a replacement-level depth piece whose public perception is trending down and whose injury history has all but exhausted whatever organizational goodwill six seasons of familiarity might have built.