How Broncos stole Dre Greenlaw from 49ers despite 'last-ditch effort'
03/30/2025 04:12 PM
The Denver Broncos exceeded expectations last season with Sean Payton at the helm and Bo Nix running the show as a rookie quarterback. Now, Denver is trying to take it a step further and become a true contender in the AFC.
While Payton and Nix got a lot of the shine last season, the Denver defense was the best unit on the field at almost all times. The Broncos had one of the top defenses in the league under Vance Joseph and Patrick Surtain II won the Defensive Player of the Year Award after the season. Now, the Broncos have brought in Dre Greenlaw and Talanoa Hufanga from the San Francisco 49ers to help out even more on that side of the ball.
Before Greenlaw made his final decision to sign with the Broncos, the 49ers made what Greenlaw called a “last-ditch effort” to keep him. General manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan flew out to Greenlaw’s home in Texas to try to convince him to come back to the Bay Area, according to Luca Evans of the Denver Post.
It’s easy to see why the 49ers would want Greenlaw back. He was one of the leaders of this 49ers defense during this era and battled his way back onto the field last year after tearing his Achilles in the Super Bowl in February of 2024. When he did return, Greenlaw looked like his old self, flying downhill and stuffing ball carriers in their tracks.
Greenlaw played in just two games for the 49ers before going down with another injury, making nine tackles across the pair of contests. However, he exceeded 120 tackles in both 2022 and 2023 despite playing in just 15 games in both seasons.
Now, those skills will be headed to a Broncos defense that had a weakness at linebacker last season despite their excellence as a unit. If Greenlaw can solidify that group and the Broncos can bring back similar production on the defensive line and in the secondary, they can have the kind of defense that can really trouble the crop of elite quarterbacks in the AFC.
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