A 49ers Defensive Lineman Is Heading to the Colts

On Tuesday, the San Francisco 49ers acquired veteran defensive tackle DeForest Buckner from the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for a 2027 fourth-round draft pick. Buckner, a three-time Pro Bowler, started his NFL career with the 49ers in 2016 before they traded him to the Colts in 2020.

Now, one of the 49ers’ defensive tackles is heading to Indianapolis.

Kevin Givens broke into the NFL as an undrafted rookie and a teammate of Buckner in 2019 with the Niners. He gradually worked his way into the periphery of head coach Kyle Shanahan’s rotation, but injuries have held him back over the last couple of years.

San Francisco waived him in early August and then re-signed him to its practice squad in early September. It again waived him and brought him back to its practice squad over the past week.

Now, the Colts are signing Givens, per Josh Alper of NBC Sports.

Heading to the AFC

By 2022, his fourth pro season, Givens was getting onto the field for a decent number of snaps and was starting to be productive. That year, he appeared in 13 games and started in 11 of them, and he registered 20 total tackles (11 solo), seven tackles for loss, three quarterback hits, and two sacks.

The following season, he had a career-high 22 total tackles (12 solo). Despite being limited to eight games in 2024, Givens had 3.5 sacks and six QB hits, both of which were career bests.

He has appeared in just one game this year — San Francisco’s 36-30 win over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 3 — and in that game, he had two tackles and one QB hit.

In his three years at Pennsylvania State University, Givens totaled 13 sacks, 21.5 tackles for loss and 82 total tackles (40 solo) in 39 games.

The Colts are currently 2-5 and have apparently decided to press the blinking red button after trading Buckner and All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson this week. There are now rumors that they could jettison star running back Jonathan Taylor, a three-time Pro Bowler who is currently tied for the most rushing touchdowns this year with eight.

Wide receiver Josh Downs has also come up as a potential trade candidate, and some have speculated that the Niners could go after him.

Indianapolis has lost 12 of its last 14 games after starting last season 8-2.