Dre Greenlaw Reveals He Wanted to Remain With the 49ers Last Year

Leaving the 49ers in free agency last year for the Broncos wasn't what Dre Greenlaw wanted initially.

Sep 21, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Denver Broncos linebacker Dre Greenlaw (57) on the sidelines prior to the game against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The San Francisco 49ers had no problem letting the vast majority of their free agents walk last year.

However, there was one player that they didn't want to see leave – Dre Greenlaw. He was a beloved player on the team, which is why Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch flew to his home to dissuade him from signing with the Denver Broncos.

Unfortunately, it was too little too late at the time. Greenlaw seemed to have his mind made up, especially with the offer the Broncos made to him.

And yet, leaving the 49ers isn't what Greenlaw wanted at all. While appearing on “The Set with Terron Armstead” show, Greenlaw pulled back the curtain on his free agency experience last year.

Greenlaw tried to remain with the 49ers

Feb 6, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; San Francisco 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw (57) during a press conference before Super Bowl LVIII at the Hilton Lake Las Vegas Resort. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

“I’m feeling like damn, a totally new, different feeling for me. Like I've always been a Niner. Always wanted to be a Niner. Never thought about being nothing else, said Greenlaw. "If somebody did come offer me and the Niners weren’t willing to offer as they had said, it might be a team that comes offer me and they may not be able to match it, or this or that. So I knew that it’d be a case that I could be going somewhere but I made sure [with] my agent, ‘Hey man, make sure you tell the 49ers about whatever decision we decide on.’

“But I always had them in the loop like Kyle even told me, ‘Before you get your final offer, let me know.’ Going through the process of it, trying to make it happen with the Niners, and then all of a sudden, Denver, they called me and they stayed in touch with me. [The] Niners, they really [weren’t] so much talking to me at the time, so I had called them a couple of times trying to figure out what's going on.

"It just really didn’t seem like I was even part of the team really."

Greenlaw eventually shared that the 49ers wouldn't match Denver's offer, thus ending his tenure with the red and gold. It was disappointing for him to experience.

He also noted that his year with the Broncos was tough and that he "felt like a rookie all over again." That likely had to do with learning a new defensive scheme.

Greenlaw hasn't had to do that since he's played on the same team and scheme since he was drafted. But now, all is rectified. He is back with the 49ers. The two sides couldn't be happier.

The 49ers get their tone-setting player who makes everyone around him better. He does have injury concerns, but he's well worth rolling the dice on to potentially elevate the defense.

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