Niners LB Dre Greenlaw admits ‘I just wasn’t happy’ during 2025 season with Broncos

After one year spent in the Mile High City, Greenlaw returns to San Francisco and a collection of familiar faces, starting with head coach Kyle Shanahan. As he often did during the 49ers’ run of success enjoyed in his first stint in the Bay Area, Greenlaw will have to learn from another new defensive coordinator, much like he did with DeMeco Ryans, Steve Wilks and Nick Sorensen in years past. This time, his new strategic director will be former Buccaneers and Falcons head coach Raheem Morris.

That’s no issue to Greenlaw. He’s returning to the place he knew as home for the first six years of his career before an Achilles injury suffered in Super Bowl LVIII placed him on a prolonged recovery journey and eventually led him to sign with the Broncos in 2025. Despite his one-year absence, Greenlaw’s return feels right, especially for a 49ers team that received a firsthand lesson on the importance of depth in 2025.

Plus, Greenlaw is reuniting with a premier teammate and friend in Fred Warner.

“Honestly, it’s the relationships that I’ve built in that building. Just from top to bottom,” Greenlaw said. “With the Yorks (ownership), with (general manager) John (Lynch), Kyle. … Fred, he came in the year before me, but I swear it’s just a certain feeling we’ve got. We look across that and we see each other, it’s like, you’re dang right it’s for each other. You’re not gonna let me down, I’m not gonna let you down.

“It’s just such a weird connection. He knows I’m gonna put it all on the line. I know he’s going to do the same, and that’s all you can ask for. It’s like a partner in crime. It’s all going to work out like it’s supposed to. But I’m thankful for it all.”

The NFL can be a brutal business at times, especially when injuries strike. Greenlaw learned this over the last two seasons, but Broncos head coach Sean Payton’s review of the veteran spoke volumes about the type of individual he is within a much larger organization.

“That was a tough one,” Payton said Tuesday during the NFL’s Annual League Meeting in Phoenix. “Here’s why: He’s so passionate. I would say, in my career as a coach, I’ve been lucky enough to coach a lot of passionate players that love the game, and I think that I’m always disappointed, internally, that it didn’t work out because I love that player. I love how he competes. I love all the things he brings. And you feel somewhat responsible when it doesn’t work out.”

Payton can free himself from feeling such responsibility. Greenlaw’s journey led him back to the place he knows best, a perfect fit for him at this stage in his career.

It will be up to the former fifth-round pick to make the most of it.