Broncos Officially Cut Dre Greenlaw with Special Stipulation

Greenlaw hits the open market after one year in Denver.

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

What has been expected is now official: the Denver Broncos officially cut inside linebacker Dre Greenlaw, the team announced Thursday.

Greenlaw was released with a post-June 1 designation; Denver will save $8.19 million against this year's salary cap while taking on a $2.166 million dead-money charge (as well as a $2.164 million hit in 2027).

Thank you, @DreGreenlaw. pic.twitter.com/3Sf6t4ZhTK

— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) March 12, 2026

A longtime starter in San Francisco, Greenlaw joined the Broncos last spring on a three-year, $35 million free-agent deal that included $11.5 million in guarantees. It was essentially a one-year arrangement with a built-in escape hatch that the club utilized this offseason.

Greenlaw ultimately provided neutral-to-negative return on investment, recording 43 tackles, one sack, one interception, and a forced fumble across eight appearances, missing more than half of the regular season due to injury and NFL suspension.

"When you don’t go into the offseason healthy and especially if you go this late, it just sets you back," admitted Greenlaw, who had a checkered injury history with the 49ers. "You don’t get the time to prepare and you don’t get the time to train. You’re focusing on calves and whatever it is you are rehabbing that you don’t really have the time to play football."

Greenlaw's release was anticipated after the Broncos recently opted to re-sign both of their then-unrestricted free agent linebackers, Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad.

Today, it became a formality.

Dec 14, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs (8) is tackled by Denver Broncos linebacker Dre Greenlaw (57) during the second quarter at Empower Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

What This Means

Personnel-wise, the Broncos already showed their hand with the aforementioned retention of Singleton and Strnad. Things can still change — they may address the position more heavily in next month's NFL Draft — but those two appear to be the leading candidates to start at ILB in 2026.

"We see those guys as Broncos," general manager George Paton said during February's Scouting Combine. "If we let those guys leave, what are we doing? Those are good guys, but that doesn’t mean we can get them. Everyone is watching tape. You look at both. When you are getting your plan for free agency, you look at the draft and where it’s strong there. ‘OK, maybe it’s strong at receiver…’ It is a balance and you do develop your plan, so it is a good question. With some players, you just want to get back regardless of the strength.”

Financially, the team now has a bit of extra wiggle room to pursue external talent or continue to allocate in-house. The latter seems likelier as Denver has yet to acquire an outside player while locking down several of its own, including running back J.K. Dobbins, tight end Adam Trautman, and backup quarterback Sam Ehlinger.

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