The San Francisco 49ers have experienced plenty of roster turnover this offseason.
One of those departures hurt.
Linebacker Dre Greenlaw signed a three-year, $31.5 million free agent deal to join the Denver Broncos rather than staying in San Francisco.
Now, reports are that the 49ers brass tried desperate measures to keep Greenlaw.
Denver Post writer Luca Evans reported that the 49ers even flew to Greenlaw's home in Texas in a "last ditch" effort to keep him per Greenlaw's adoptive father, Brian Early.
This news comes after reports from a 49ers insider that the team didn't try hard enough to keep the linebacker.
"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," 49ers on SI writer Grant Cohn wrote.
But Greenlaw's agent told Evans that John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan flew to Texas and increased their offer to Greenlaw. But it was too late, he'd already made up his mind to join the Broncos.
Early said Greenlaw got the impression he was "Scottie Pippen to Fred Warner's Michael Jordan" in San Francisco.
"Hey, man, you stay in San Francisco, you're Scottie Pippen," Early told Greenlaw. "And Fred Warner is [Michael Jordan]. . . . Go be frickin' MJ."
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It looks like nothing that Lynch and Shanahan offered Greenlaw would've kept him with the 49ers.
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This story was originally published March 30, 2025 at 1:20 PM.