Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton called losing San Francisco 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw in free agency a “tough one” during the NFL’s annual league meeting. Payton was quite complimentary of Greenlaw:
“Here’s why: He’s so passionate. I would say, in my career as a coach, I’ve been lucky enough to coach a lot of passionate players that love the game, and I think that I’m always disappointed, internally, that it didn’t work out because I love that player. I love how he competes. I love all the things
he brings. And you feel somewhat responsible when it doesn’t work out.”
Greenlaw left an impact on Payton and the Broncos during his short stint in Denver. For somebody to do that when they didn’t step onto the field until the end of October is impressive.
Greenlaw recently appeared on Terron Armstead’s podcast, where he spoke about his time with the Broncos and returning to the 49ers. Here’s Dre talking about playing time last season:
For me, it was like, 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 million, 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.
On Monday, Kyle Shanahan said the team will wait until OTAs, but Greenlaw will “most likely” slide back into the starting WILL linebacker spot since “that’s what he’s always played” and “that would be the expectation.”
Greenlaw continued:
“Now I’ve got to slowly come in and take reps from somebody else, which the linebackers were playing really, really good at the time, so now I’m just taking reps from this guy. 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. Yeah, I just wasn’t happy. That’s really what it boiled down to at the end of the day.”
Greenlaw returns to a familiar situation and gets to play with a player whom he can feed off of energy-wise. I’d argue one of Dre’s greatest skills was his ability to bring the best out of Fred Warner, from an intensity perspective.
Greenlaw discussed his relationships with the 49ers brass and Fred Warner as part of the reason he returned to the Bay Area:
Honestly, it’s the relationships that I’ve built in that building. Just from top to bottom. With the Yorks, with John, Kyle. Fred, he came in the year before me, but I swear it’s just a certain feeling we’ve got. We look across that, and we see each other, it’s like, you’re dang right it’s for each other. You’re not gonna let me down, I’m not gonna let you down.
It’s just such a weird connection. He knows I’m gonna put it all on the line. I know he’s going to do the same, and that’s all you can ask for. It’s like a partner in crime. It’s all going to work out like it’s supposed to. But I’m thankful for it all.
Greenlaw returning to the 49ers was the free square in free agency bingo once the Broncos released him. He improves the defense in an area they’ve struggled in, making his signing a no-brainer, both for his run defense and his intangibles.
