The Denver Broncos made a huge move in the 2025 offseason when they signed free agent linebacker Dre Greenlaw.
Greenlaw was supposed to be the missing piece of the Denver defense, already one of the top defensive units in the league and seemingly just one ultra-athletic presence in the middle away from maybe being the most dominant unit in the NFL.
Unfortunately, the optimism for Greenlaw and even just the general vision for adding him to the team faded quickly. Greenlaw suffered an injury very early in the offseason, and it impacted him into training camp. The Broncos only had Greenlaw back on the practice field for a brief bit of time before he aggravated the injury, and was limited to just 10 games total last season (8 regular season, 2 playoffs).
Despite prioritizing continuity, the Broncos decided to move on from Greenlaw after just one year, and he wound up back with his old team, the San Francisco 49ers. And according to FOX Sports, he's gone from being potentially the missing piece of Denver's defense to being the "X-Factor" for San Francisco.
Former Denver Broncos LB Dre Greenlaw named biggest X-Factor for 49ers in 2026
Here's what FOX Sports writer Ben Arthur had to say about Greenlaw and how important he is for the 49ers this coming season:
"Greenlaw was the heartbeat of the Niners in his first stint with the team from 2019-24. After a year in Denver, he returns to San Francisco as the expected starter at weakside linebacker. In Greenlaw’s first six seasons with San Francisco, the defense played significantly better with him on the field. Overall, including the playoffs, the 49ers went 52-24 when Greenlaw played."
- FOX Sports
Greenlaw is back with the 49ers, where things are going to be relatively familiar for him. Raheem Morris is now the defensive coordinator in San Francisco after Robert Saleh left to become the head coach of the Tennessee Titans. But even without Saleh, Greenlaw is going to be able to play next to his old pal Fred Warner again, and both guys are going to be coming off of injury-plagued seasons.
Greenlaw just turned 29 in May, so there is still time left for him to return to the form he showed earlier in his NFL career with the 49ers. And there is no doubt that he has been one of the best linebackers in the league when healthy. Even in a small sample last season, we saw how impactful his talent could be in Denver.
He had a huge series in the team's win against Houston last season, he had a big interception off of Marcus Mariota in the Broncos' win against the Commanders, and the duo of Greenlaw and Justin Strnad may have given the Broncos their best linebacker play of the season in a win against the Kansas City Chiefs.
It's still extremely disappointing to think that the Greenlaw signing didn't work out, especially when you consider how great the Talanoa Hufanga addition was. Those two guys could have really lifted the Broncos' defense together, but instead, Greenlaw was one-and-done. That's not what anyone envisioned, although there was always a chance injuries could rear their ugly head.
Even knowing the risk involved, the Broncos having to pivot away from Greenlaw so quickly makes him one of the more unfortunate free agent busts in recent team history. That's the name of the game in NFL Free Agency.
We'll know soon enough whether or not Greenlaw is able to bounce back and become the X-Factor for his new (old) team.
Add us as a preferred source on Google