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Will Dre Greenlaw Sign a One-Year Prove-It Deal with the 49ers?

Dre Greenlaw is coming off a season in which he played just 34 snaps after tearing his Achilles in last year's Super Bowl. In addition, he'll turn 28 in May. So his best days probably are behind him.
Grant Cohn|
Jan 29, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; San Francisco 49ers linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair (51) and linebacker Dre Greenlaw (57) walk off the field after a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship game at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
Jan 29, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; San Francisco 49ers linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair (51) and linebacker Dre Greenlaw (57) walk off the field after a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship game at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers have to figure out what to do at weakside linebacker.

Dre Greenlaw is coming off a season in which he played just 34 snaps after tearing his Achilles in last year's Super Bowl. In addition, he'll turn 28 in May. So his best days probably are behind him.

That's why The NFL Network thinks Greenlaw could be one of the biggest bargains on the market this offseason.

"Greenlaw will probably have to take a one-year prove-it deal after an Achilles injury suffered in Super Bowl LVIII last February wiped out most of his 2024 season -- and then when he did return, in Week 15, he made two starts before suffering a calf injury that landed him on injured reserve," writes NFL Network analyst Kevin Patra.

"A short-term agreement is probably smart for all parties, allowing Greenlaw to hit the market again next year while keeping his team safe in case he can't bounce back. But I'm betting he does; I'm betting on the difference-maker Greenlaw previously proved to be on the gridiron. In one half of football in 2024, he showed how much better the 49ers defense was when he was active.

"He's still 27 years old, and I'd be willing to roll the dice on a return to form in 2025."

It's great that Patra is willing to roll the dice on Greenlaw, but I'm not sure the 49ers will be. It's possible they'll want to sign someone younger, healthier and more expensive such as Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton.

It's also possible that other teams will offer Greenlaw multi-year deals and the 49ers won't offer him anything more than a one-year prove-it deal. In that case, he would leave.

I still think it's likely that Greenlaw has played his final down with the 49ers.

Stay tuned.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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