Dre Greenlaw, Denver Broncos
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Dre Greenlaw #57 of the San Francisco 49ers warms up before a game against the Los Angeles Rams.
D
re Greenlaw is back. After spending the 2025 season with the Denver Broncos, Greenlaw is back with the team that drafted him back in 2019– signing a one-year deal with the 49ers this offseason. Needing a linebacker to boost the defense, while also reuniting star Fred Warner with his partner in crime, the reunion made sense for both sides. Greenlaw is on a prove it deal, but is happy to be back on the organization that made his NFL dreams come true.
But Greenlaw is also very grateful to be back after his turbulent season with the Broncos. Signing a three-year deal with them last offseason, Greenlaw struggled to stay healthy– only playing in eight games and recording 43 total tackles– and even complained about the practice style in Denver, leading to his release after one season. Now, Greenlaw is reflecting on his time in Denver, saying that is definitely a challenge and a test of adversity.
Greenlaw: ‘I Just Wasn’t Happy with the Broncos’
From the moment Greenlaw put pen to paper, his time with the Broncos was a disaster. In addition to dealing with a quad injury for the first six games of the season, Greenlaw was also suspended for a game because of an altercation with a ref before dealing with a hamstring injury towards the end of the year. Releasing Greenlaw was a no-brainer, and even Greenlaw himself feels like he knows why things didn’t work out.
“Going from a 4-3 to a 3-4 was a huge difference, especially not being able to practice in the defense,” Greenlaw said on The Set podcast with Terron Armstead. “It’s just kinda like, for me, the fact that I’m not healthy, I don’t feel that twitch or that gear that I felt like I need to have, but, obviously, I’m out here trying to do everything I can to be on the field. It makes it tough when you pay a guy $11 mil and he’s only on the field 50 percent of the time. It made it tough for me. It made it to the point where it kind of makes you not happy.”
“Now I’ve got to slowly come in and take reps from somebody else — the linebackers were playing really, really good at the time, so now I’ve gotta come in I’m taking reps from this guy,” Greenlaw added. “And now it’s like, OK, we’re splitting reps, how are we going to do it? One week it’s this, one week it’s that, and it’s like, I’ve never been in that position before for one and, for two, yeah, I just wasn’t happy. That’s really what it boiled down to at the end of the day.”
Greenlaw’s Return
Drafted in the fifth round of the 2019 draft, Greenlaw quickly evolved into a star for the 49ers, finishing his rookie season with 92 tackles and earning All-Rookie team honors. Over the next few seasons, Greenlaw and Warner formed arguably the best linebacker duo in the NFL. But the end of Greenlaw’s first tenure with the 49ers did not end well, starting with a torn achilles he suffered in Super Bowl LVIII. Missing most of the following season, Greenlaw played in only two games during the 2024 season, before leaving for the Broncos in free agency– after it was reported he felt lowballed by the 49ers offer to return.
But now, Greenlaw is thankful for his time in Denver and that everything happens for a reason– doubling down on his excitement to be back in San Francisco.