The San Francisco 49ers lost linebacker Dre Greenlaw to the Denver Broncos in free agency this past offseason. It seemed like a huge loss at the time, but with the latest news on Greenlaw, it is more evidence the Niners lucked out.
Greenlaw was ruled out for Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Chargers before the Broncos decided to place him on IR which means he will miss at least another four games as he deals with a thigh injury.
The alarm bells were already going off for Denver when Greenlaw missed Week 1 after dealing with injuries in training camp and the preseason. They got even louder after he missed Week 2 as fans surely began to consider whether Greenlaw could be a bust following the $31.5 million deal Denver gave him in the offseason.
Now, Denver very well may be regretting that deal with Greenlaw set to miss at least half the season.
His injury woes this season come after he played in just two games for San Francisco following the ruptured Achilles he suffered in the Super Bowl. He just has not been able to stay on the field since then, so it is only fair to fear that injuries could plague his time in Denver.
For 49ers fans, while there is some relief that they have avoided all of this and can watch safely from afar, at the same time it is unfortunate to see Greenlaw struggle with injury after everything he did for the 49ers.
He came up with one of the biggest tackles you will ever see on the goal line in Seattle to clinch the NFC west crown and the No. 1 seed in the NFC for the Niners back in 2019. He had a game-sealing interception against the Green Bay Packers in the playoffs a few years ago where he kept running with the ball for what seemed like an eternity. And who could forget him going toe-to-toe with "Big Dom" in Philadelphia a few seasons back.
One of the big "what if" scenarios that keeps Niners fans up at night is how the Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs might have gone down differently had Greenlaw not injured himself on the sideline.
Let's hope injuries do not impact Greenlaw for the rest of his career, but his Denver career could not have gotten off to a much worse start.