The San Francisco 49ers had to fully expect to lose linebacker Dre Greenlaw in free agency, and a last-ditch effort to keep him of course proved fruitless. The terms of Greenlaw's three-year deal with the Denver Broncos also showed his departure was about more than money.
Whatever the broader roster plan general manager John Lynch is leading the carrying out of ultimately looks like, the Niners have to replace Greenlaw without delay. There's a strong argument he is the team's biggest offseason loss, and it's clear anyone who will replace him is likely to be an automatic downgrade.
There has been some significant legwork done with linebacker prospects heading into the draft, as easily expected.
John Lynch is trying to talk himself into ideal replacement for Dre Greenlaw
Lynch made the short trip to Stanford's pro day on Wednesday. The rough offseason the 49ers have had was obviously the primary focus when he spoke to reporters.
When the specific topic came up, he pointed to Dee Winters as a candidate to replace Greenlaw at weakside linebacker.
"He’ll have an opportunity,” Lynch said, via Matt Barrows of The Athletic. "There’s still a lot of time between now and when we play. But he’s a guy we like. And he’s still growing as a player. (Defensive coordinator Robert) Saleh’s here. And it’s been fun to have a new lens on things. He’s very excited with Dee and a lot of players.”"
A sixth-round pick by the 49ers in 2023, Winters mostly played special teams as a rookie (60 defensive snaps in 15 games). He took on a bigger role last season, starting 10 games and playing 41 percent of the defensive snaps in the 15 games he played as he finished with 44 total tackles and four pass breakups.
Pro Football Focus was generally complementary of Winters' work last season. He was graded as the site's 38th-best off-ball linebacker overall, with the fifth-best coverage grade at the position (80.0). His run defense grade was below-average (51.2), though, and while he didn't rush the passer a lot (16 times), his grade in that area was dismal (48.2).
Any and all viable options to replace Greenlaw should be on the table, and Winters probably is the top candidate to do so right now (over Jalen Graham and Tatum Bethune). Lynch is forced to publicly talk himself into a lot of things at this point, and at least for now he has to try to talk himself into Winters as the best candidate to replace Greenlaw.
There's also an awful lot of projection involved to push Winters close to the caliber of player Greenlaw was for the 49ers.
But that is not a new concept this offseason, as they try to figure out who will replace all the notable players they've lost.