The 49ers have a major defensive hole to fill with the loss of linebacker and emotional leader Dre Greenlaw.
Greenlaw is expected to sign a three-year, $35 million contract with the Denver Broncos, NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reported Monday, citing sources, and leaves the 49ers after spending his first six NFL seasons with the club.
Over the past couple of months, teammates, coaches and executives expressed the importance of the 49ers being able to re-sign Greenlaw, who was a free agent for the first time in his NFL career.
“You know how highly we think of Dre, and we’d love to have that,” 49ers general manager John Lynch recently said at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
But the 49ers and Greenlaw were not able to come to an agreement to keep the union together heading into the 2025 season.
The 49ers’ connection with Greenlaw dates back to the 2019 NFL Draft, when he was a fifth-round selection (No. 148 overall) from Arkansas.
The 49ers were not expecting Greenlaw to be much more than a special-teams contributor as a rookie. After all, they signed veteran linebacker Kwon Alexander to a lucrative free-agent contract. When Alexander sustained a torn pectoral muscle midway through the season, Greenlaw stepped in and produced immediate results.
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Greenlaw and All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner formed one of the NFL’s best inside linebacker duos over the past several seasons.
Greenlaw started 68 of 76 games in which he appeared for the 49ers, including 12 postseason starts.
One of those postseason games ended in heartbreak for Greenlaw and the 49ers.
In Super Bowl LVIII last February in Las Vegas, Greenlaw registered three tackles in the first 12 plays. However, he sustained a torn Achilles tendon as he sprung forward to take the field after a second-quarter change of possession.
Greenlaw underwent surgery and did not return to action until Dec. 12 against the Los Angeles Rams. He played only half of that game and made it through just four snaps the following week before he was shut down for the remainder of the season.
Although he never earned a Pro Bowl selection, Greenlaw was regarded as one of the 49ers’ most-important defensive players.
Greenlaw’s aggression and raw emotions brought an immeasurable level of juice to the 49ers’ defense. He is known as someone who plays on the edge — and sometimes steps over the line.
In December 2023, Greenlaw picked up 170-pound Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith and flung him to the ground to draw an unnecessary roughness penalty. The Eagles’ head of security, Dom DiSandro, entered the fray, and Greenlaw swiped at him along the sideline.
Greenlaw was ejected from the game and fined $10,927 for the incident. While injured and on the 49ers’ sideline during the 2024 season, he was fined $14,069 for shoving Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride. San Francisco also was fined $100,000 for violating a rule prohibiting inactive players from making unnecessary contact with an opponent.
The 49ers considered Greenlaw as a tone-setter, and that is why it is a major blow to see him go.
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