With a 6-11 record at the end of the 2024 season, the San Francisco 49ers are in new territory at the bottom of the NFC West after a poor year.
The Niners’ offseason is somewhat problematic, starting with contract extension talks with quarterback Brock Purdy, despite the fact that they did end up with the No. 11 overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft.
However, considering that safety Talanoa Hufanga and linebacker Dre Greenlaw, two important defensive players, are free agents, it’s really just one piece of the issue.
Everything in Greenlaw’s case seems to point to a departure.
Matt Barrows of The Athletic reports that 27-year-old Greenlaw, who made just two starts in the 2024 season due to an injury to his left Achilles tendon sustained at Super Bowl LVIII, looks to be leaving:
“I think the chances are better than not that Dre Greenlaw is gone,” Barrows said while speaking to KNBR in San Francisco. “I believe that the 49ers benefit from the fact that he only played a half in 2024… However, I get the impression that Dre Greenlaw would like to have his own store, just as [former 49ers LB] Azeez Al-Shaair did with the Texans this past season.”
Barrows added that Greenlaw wanted an opportunity to “strike out on his own,” mentioning the Washington Commanders as a potential bidder in light of Adam Peters, the 49ers front office’s current general manager and the man who drafted Greenlaw in 2019.
According to the 49ers’ loud fan base on social media, the only hope at this point seems to be that Greenlaw will sign a one-year “prove it” contract.
It may seem like a good notion, but when the free agency negotiating window opens on March 12 at 4 p.m. EST, it’s likely a long way off from NFL reality unless the market for impactful linebackers manages to quickly shrink down.
