Kevin Givens

49ers DL Kevin Givens Charged With Assault

49ers defensive lineman Kevin Givens is facing an assault charge arising from an alleged incident that took place in Baltimore on February 21, as Michael Williams of the San Francisco Chronicle writes.

According to an affidavit signed by the alleged victim, Hayden Bosley, Givens and Bosley were at a Sheraton hotel in Baltimore with several other friends. Bosley says that Givens became upset with the other members of the group, and ultimately the two men got into an altercation that culminated with Givens tackling Bosley, resulting in black eyes, scrapes, and four hours in the emergency room.

The details are a bit fuzzy, but court records indicate that a trial date is set for April 26. The 49ers have said that they are gathering facts and will continue to monitor the situation.

Givens, a 2019 UDFA out of Penn State, appeared in just one game in his rookie campaign after spending most of the year on the practice squad. But he played a much larger role last season, seeing time in 13 games (one start) while accumulating 19 tackles and a sack. He served as the primary backup to D.J. Jones, who recently re-signed with the 49ers and who offered some high praise for Givens.

“I look up to Kevin Givens,” Jones said. “Nobody’s talking about him, but they will be soon.”

As a recent UDFA who has yet to truly establish himself in the league, Givens can ill-afford a criminal charge of any kind. If the accusations have any veracity, his spot on the 49ers, and perhaps even his playing career, could be in jeopardy.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/27/19

Here are Friday’s minor moves:

Cincinnati Bengals

Detroit Lions

  • Promoted from practice squad: LB Anthony Pittman

Indianapolis Colts

New York Giants

San Francisco 49ers

Washington Redskins

Sunday NFL Transactions: NFC West

Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four NFC West teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions for the Cardinals, Rams, Seahawks and 49ers are noted below.

Additionally, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads today. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.

Here are Sunday’s NFC West transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day.

Arizona Cardinals

Los Angeles Rams

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

49ers Cut Joshua Garnett, Reach Max

The 49ers got down to the 53-man roster maximum by releasing 24 players in total on Saturday, including former first-round pick Joshua Garnett.

The Niners used the No. 28 pick to select Garnett in 2016, but they never saw much from him at the pro level. The Stanford product started in eleven of his 15 games as a rookie, but even then, his performance was underwhelming – Garnett racked up penalties and didn’t excel in run blocking or pass blocking. Garnett then missed all of 2017 after undergoing knee surgery and only saw action as a reserve in seven games last year. At a rate of $10.35MM, it made little sense to keep Garnett for 2020, especially since the option would have been guaranteed for injury.

This year, Garnett is said to be healthy, but that ensured little in terms of performance, so he’s out. The Niners will save $1.7MM against $1.2MM in dead money.

Jordan Matthews was said to have had a strong camp, but the 27-year-old wide receiver wasn’t able to stick in SF. He inked a one-year, $1.8MM deal with the Niners in March, but he’ll exit with just his $300K signing bonus in hand.

Aside from Garnett and Matthews, here’s the rest of the Niners’ cuts:

Released

DB Antone Exum Jr.

LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles

DL Jamell Garcia-Williams

DL Kevin Givens

S Marcell Harris

TE Daniel Helm

WR Malik Henry

LB Elijah Lee

LB David Mayo

DL Damontre Moore

LB LaRoy Reynolds

G Ross Reynolds

S Tyree Robinson

QB Wilton Speight

WR Chris Thompson

DL Jordan Thompson

OL Najee Toran

DL Jeremiah Valoaga

RB Austin Walter

RB Jeff Wilson Jr.

Waived/Injured

DB Adrian Colbert

OL Andrew Lauderdale

49ers Add 10 Undrafted Free Agents

Teams continue to finalize their UDFA hauls. Here are the players who will try to make the 49ers’ 53-man roster:

Michigan’s starting quarterback in 2016, prior to a back injury that ended up costing him the job, Speight finished his career in Los Angeles and appeared in seven games for the 2018 Bruins. He threw just six touchdown passes in his lone UCLA campaign. He will become the fourth quarterback on the 49ers’ roster.

Garcia-Williams stands 6-foot-7 and is coming off a breakout year, when he recorded 9.5 sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss. He will compete for time along the edge for a San Francisco team suddenly much stronger at that spot. Givens profiles as an interior defender, a spot where the 49ers have been deep for years due to their continued first-round investments.

The 49ers guaranteed $25K of Mayfield’s base salary, along with a $10K signing bonus, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets. Mayfield comprised part of the 49ers’ pre-draft visitor list. Despite Henry totaling fewer than 400 yards at Division II West Georgia last year, the 49ers are guaranteeing him $90K, Matt Barrows of The Athletic notes (subscription required).