49ers Make Multiple Roster Moves

Sample, a 2021 fourth-round pick from Tulsa, joined the 49ers after a five-year run in Cincinnati. Aside from 2024, which he missed because of a torn Achilles, Sample played between 26% and 40% of defensive snaps in each season with the Bengals. He totaled seven sacks in 61 games with the club.

Even though the 49ers are thin at defensive end, especially with Nick Bosa and Mykel Williams working back from 2025 ACL tears, they booted Sample from their roster. Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, whom the 49ers agreed to sign earlier Wednesday, will take Sample’s place.

The 31-year-old Hodge had been on the open market since the Falcons released him in a cost-cutting move in late February. He spent the previous four seasons in Atlanta and played 2024-25 under Raheem Morris, then the Falcons’ head coach and now the 49ers’ defensive coordinator. Also a former Ram, Brown and Lion, Hodge has never even reached the 15-catch mark in any of his eight seasons. However, he has made an impact on special teams, where he has logged snap shares ranging from 40% to 72% of in each season. Hodge earned a Pro Bowl nod in 2024.

Givens, 29, just re-signed with the 49ers on July 26, but he is once again without a team. The Penn State product has played his entire seven-year career in San Francisco, where he started a personal-best 11 games in 2022. Givens has totaled just two starts since then, though, and he only got into 13 games from 2024-25. He has registered eight sacks in 70 regular-season appearances.