The Denver Broncos didn't have much luck with linebacker Dre Greenlaw, so now he'll return to the San Francisco 49ers.
Some free agents signings and releases occur as a connected chain of events where one player gets signed and another gets the gate, and that sequence occurred for former Denver Broncos linebacker Dre Greenlaw, who returned to the San Francisco 49ers just one day after being released by Denver.
Greenlaw was a disappointment in Denver, but his timing was perfect for San Franciso. He signed a one-year deal with the 49ers that’s worth up to $7.5 million just as the team’s defensive end, Bryce Huff, elected to retire from football at the age of 28. The transition was reported by Nick Wagoner of ESPN.
The linebacker’s time in Denver won’t be remembered fondly by Broncos fans. Greenlaw signed a three-year, $31.5 million deal with Denver, where he was supposed to provide a physical presence in the middle of the field.
Instead, Greenlaw struggled just to stay on the field. He hurt his quad working out on his own in the offseason, then added a hamstring injury to his physical wise in training camp. When Greenlaw got on the field, he didn’t exactly endear himself to coach Sean Payton and the organization when he picked up a one-game suspension for threatening Bruce Allen at the end of a tight game.
The linebacker also struggled to fit in with Denver’s defensive concepts. The Broncos use fast linebackers as pass rushers ,and instead of Greenlaw it was former 49ers safety Talanoa Hufanga who provided that physical presence, so the Broncos elected to re-sign linebackers Justin Strnad and let Greenlaw go.
The happy ending in this particular story was provided by the 49ers, who also pursued Greenlaw in competition with the Broncos. San Francisco GM John Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan actually flew to Texas to see if they could convince Greenlaw to return to San Francisco.
Now he’s back, but Greenlaw comes with a reputation for being injury prone. He’s appeared in just ten games over the course of the last two seasons, according to Wagoner, with his other major injury coming in Super Bowl LVIII when Greenlaw tore his left injury just jogging off the field.
Greenlaw will join fellow linebacker and close friend Fred Warner in the middle of the San Francisco defensive if he can get and stay healthy. Dee Winters handled that position last year, starting all 17 games with 101 tackles and an interception. The addition of Greenlaw bolsters San Francisco’s linebacking corps, but the 49ers still need another pass rusher with Huff heading off into life after football.