Arguably the biggest offseason loss the San Francisco 49ers suffered during the offseason was watching star linebacker Dre Greenlaw depart via free agency to the Denver Broncos.
After all, all anyone had to do to understand Greenlaw's importance was to watch how the Niners defense fared without him on the field, which was unfortunately far too often over the course of 2024 as he was still recovering from an untimely and devastating achilles tear in the Super Bowl the previous February.
Despite San Francisco's 11th-hour attempt to keep Greenlaw in the Bay Area, his desire to step out from beyond All-Pro Fred Warner's shadow is understandable.
And Denver's reinforced defense looks awfully lethal now, while Greenlaw's three-year, $31.5 million contract appears relatively affordable.
That said, the Broncos signed Greenlaw while assuming a substantial risk. They may be finding out that risk the hard way now.
Broncos are learning what 49ers already understood about Dre Greenlaw
The achilles setback was only one significant injury the former Arkansas standout has dealt with during his pro career, and 49ers fans may recall how a serious groin injury sidelined the linebacker for all but three games back in 2021.
While it's unfair to label Greenlaw as injury-prone, it's not a hard conclusion to recognize how serious lower-body injuries can have a proverbial domino effect on other areas of the body. Case in point, once Greenlaw finally got back on the field for the first time after tearing his achilles, a subsequent calf injury popped him back on injured reserve after just two games played.
Now, another injury has played a role in Greenlaw's efforts to return to full strength.
A nagging quad injury kept the linebacker out of Denver's 2025 preseason campaign, and the effects are lingering into the regular season. Indeed, Greenlaw popped up on the Broncos' Week 1 injury report and subsequently ending up being ruled out for Week 1.
#Broncos ILB Dre Greenlaw continues to struggle getting healthy. He did not practice Wednesday, spending time on side field.
— MikeKlis9NEWS (@mikeklis9news) September 3, 2025
Obviously, for both Broncos and Niners fans, a healthy Greenlaw is of the utmost importance. It's not as if San Francisco fans have any resentment toward the former 49ers backer who left his former team with plenty of everlasting memories.
Yet the Niners had to understand the risk associated with retaining Greenlaw in the wake of such a serious and potentially career-altering injury, one that can lead to even more subsequent injuries in the aftermath. While it's not fully known, their 11th-hour attempt to retain him might have only been made when they realized how relatively affordable Greenlaw's contract in Denver was.
That said, the Broncos now assumed that $10.5 million per-year risk.
If Greenlaw isn't able to get healthy soon, that risk might be a bigger problem than Denver wou like to admit.