The San Francisco 49ers are gutting the roster ahead of 2025. But is that necessary?
One loss that could hurt the team is the departure of linebacker Dre Greenlaw. After the details of his deal with the Denver Broncos emerged, one 49ers writer noted, "this one hurts."
Grant Cohn of San Francisco 49ers on SI thinks the Niners could've "easily" paid what the Broncos did, and his departure was unnecessary.
"Greenlaw has no guaranteed money in his contract after this year. So while it's a three-year, $35 million deal on paper, in reality, it's a one-year, $11.5 million contract," Cohn wrote. "Nothing more is guaranteed. And that's more than reasonable for a player such as Greenlaw who is absolutely dominant when healthy.
"The 49ers probably offered Greenlaw a one-year deal worth significantly less than $11.5 million, which is silly considering they gave backup tight end Luke Farrell nearly $7 million per season and they gave fullback Kyle Juszczyk $4 million per season."
Cohn noted there was a solution to keeping Greenlaw if the 49ers really wanted to.
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"Instead of signing those two non-offensive-linemen blocking specialists, the 49ers could have given that money to Greenlaw and signed a player with real upside. A player who truly is a leader in the locker room, not just a mouthpiece for the coaching staff."
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This story was originally published March 17, 2025 at 2:28 PM.