EAGAN, Minn. — The Vikings have bolstered their defensive line.

Minnesota have agreed to terms with interior defensive lineman Javon Hargrave, the team announced Wednesday.

Most recently, he spent the 2023 and 2024 seasons in San Francisco. During the 2023 campaign, Hargrave totaled 44 tackles, 7.0 sacks and two passes defensed in 16 regular-season games, all of which he started. He recorded a sack, a fumble recovery and six tackles against the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII.

Hargrave played three games for the 49ers last season before suffering a partially torn triceps muscle that sidelined him for the remainder of the year. He logged seven tackles, one sack and a QB hit before the injury.

Initially a third-round draft pick in 2016, Hargrave spent his first four NFL seasons with the Steelers before joining the Eagles in 2020 for three seasons.

Here are five things to know about the Vikings new defensive lineman:

1. Two-time Pro Bowler

Hargrave received nods to the Pro Bowl following his 2021 and 2023 seasons with the Eagles and 49ers, respectively. He started alongside new Vikings interior defensive line teammate Jonathan Allen in the all-star game that followed the 2021 season.

In 2021, he racked up a season-high 63 tackles and 18 QB hits, in addition to 7.5 sacks, nine tackles for loss, a pass defensed and one forced fumble. He did not receive an invite to the all-star game in 2022 despite having an impressive 11 sacks that season, the most in his career.

2. Standout at South Carolina State

Hargrave redshirted as a true freshman for HBCU South Carolina State University before coming on the scene in 2012 and logging 45 tackles and 4.5 tackles for loss. He took a leap forward as a redshirt sophomore, logging 12.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks.

In October 2014, Hargrave tied an FCS record after recording 6.0 sacks against Bethune-Cookman. He finished fourth that season among the FCS with 16 sacks and was named First-Team All-Mideastern Athletic Conference (MEAC).

Hargrave's final collegiate season wrapped up with 59 tackles, 13.5 sacks, 22 tackles for loss and two forced fumbles. He was named First-Team All-MEAC for the second straight year.

3. Nicknamed 'Gravedigger'

When Hargrave first got to South Carolina State, his teammates started calling him "Grave" as a shortening of his last name. But Mike Adams, then the SCS defensive coordinator, expanded the moniker to "Gravedigger" after Hargrave's first collegiate sack.

"I smacked the quarterback. I knocked him back a few yards," he recalled. "When I got back to the sideline, my defensive coordinator called me 'Gravedigger.' It was pretty dope to me. It stuck."

4. Part of the MEAC Hall of Fame

Hargrave is well-revered by his HBCU community.

After being inducted into the South Carolina State Athletic Hall of Fame in 2022, he was announced in 2024 as a member of the MEAC Hall of Fame class for his impact both at the collegiate and NFL level.

5. Honors a friend's memory

Hargrave often pays tribute to close friend Chris Smith, a fellow North Carolina native and NFL defender who passed away in April 2023.

One of the ways he's done so is through a flag football event last summer that honored Smith's memory through "kindness and togetherness."

"When I got drafted, Chris was one of the first people to call me and just give me advice, bring me in, tell me how the league was going to be, the right things to eat," Hargrave said that day. "Seeing him, when he first got paid, give back to West Rowan, to his church and to the whole Salisbury community, he just taught me everything I know going through this journey. I'm just so happy to be here for him, to see him get his flowers, because he deserved this and so much more."

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