Linebacker Dre Greenlaw spent his first six NFL seasons with the 49ers before detouring to Denver last season. After the Broncos released him Tuesday, he signed a one-year deal with the 49ers on Thursday.
The beloved player who got away wasn’t gone for long.
The San Francisco 49ers signed linebacker Dre Greenlaw, 28, to a one-year, $7.5 million contract Thursday, a league source said, a year after general manager John Lynch acknowledged the team fumbled their handling of its tone-setting 2019 fifth-round pick in free agency.
After Lynch said the 49ers were too “reactive,” allowing Greenlaw to sign a three-year, $35 million deal with the Broncos, they were quick to react after Denver released Greenlaw on Tuesday.
The reunion could give the 49ers a formidable linebacker trio consisting of Greenlaw, All-Pro Fred Warner and Dee Winters, 25, a 2023 sixth-round pick who assumed Greenlaw’s role in 2025 and led the team in tackles (101) and tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Warner will return in 2026 after missing the final 11 games last year with a broken ankle.
It looks promising on paper, but it’s not clear Greenlaw can replicate the play he offered in his first six NFL seasons with the 49ers, a span that included consecutive 120-tackle seasons (2022-23) and a void when he was sidelined: The 49ers went 44-20 when he played and were 16-20 when he was out.
Denver released Greenlaw after he played in just eight games in 2025, missing the first six with a quadriceps injury before he suffered a late-season hamstring strain. Greenlaw has missed 45 of 117 games in his career and has played in just 10 of 34 since he suffered a torn Achilles in Super Bowl LVIII in February 2024.
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With Denver, however, Greenlaw did flash his familiar form for the 324 snaps he was on the field last season. He had 43 tackles and an interception and graded out among the top 20 among 88 qualifying linebackers in run defense (19th) and pass coverage (13th), according to Pro Football Focus.
Greenlaw is back with the 49ers a year after he was part of a cost-cutting housecleaning in which the franchise parted with eight starters. The painful exodus was designed to get the 49ers’ finances in order, but Greenlaw’s departure wasn’t part of the grand plan.
Last year, Lynch suggested the 49ers were surprised by interest in Greenlaw on the open market after a 2024 season in which he played 34 defensive snaps in two games. After Greenlaw agreed to terms on his three-year deal with Denver, Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan flew to Texas to see if they could change his mind before he officially signed his deal.
“Other teams were aggressive in their pursuit of him and we were kind of, I guess, forced to be somewhat reactive,” Lynch said. “Then, when the market was set, we just wanted to go have a conversation with our guy who we have a lot of respect and love for. We had a good discussion with him. He made that decision. We respect that decision.”
Lynch said he understood the league’s interest in Greenlaw, despite his injury history.
In 2024, Greenlaw made his season debut in mid-December in a 12-6 loss to the Rams in which the 49ers allowed a season low in points. Greenlaw had eight tackles in 30 defensive snaps and the Rams averaged 3.3 yards per play before he was forced to exit early in the third quarter with calf soreness. Los Angeles averaged 6.3 yards per play after Greenlaw was sidelined.
“It was a complicated case because he’s such a game-changing player,” Lynch said. “There’s not many needle movers in football. He’s a needle mover.”
Huff retires: In an unexpected move, pass rusher Bryce Huff, 27, announced his retirement after six NFL seasons, saying in a social media video that he knew he was “capable of giving the world more than just football.”
Huff, who was acquired in trade with the Eagles in June, shared his decision before he was due to collect a $1 million roster bonus Friday. Huff had four sacks in his lone season with the 49ers, including a game-sealing strip sack in a Week 2 win at New Orleans. However, he didn’t have one in his final 10 games, a stretch that included two postseason games in the 49ers’ 12-5 season.
“We battled through injuries, fought our way into the playoffs, and gave everything we had,” Huff said. “Through all of it, I realized something. Football has been my entire life. I’ve played ever since I was 4 years old, but at 27 years old, I know I’m capable of giving the world more than just football. The game taught me perseverance. It taught me discipline. It taught me how to lead and how to find a way forward when things feel impossible. Now it’s time for the next chapter of my life.”
A 2020 undrafted free agent out of Memphis, Huff signed a three-year, $51 million contract with the Eagles in 2024 after he had a career-high 10 sacks with the Jets. However, that season proved to be an aberration. He had just 14 sacks in his five other seasons and Philadelphia traded him to the 49ers last year for a fifth-round pick.
Without Huff, the 49ers have a need for edge-rushing depth behind All-Pro Nick Bosa and Mykel Williams, their 2025 first-round pick. Huff’s retirement creates $5.4 million in salary cap space.
Corner added: The 49ers signed cornerback Nate Hobbs, 26, a five-year veteran who was released by the Packers on Wednesday, a league source said. Hobbs signed a one-year deal.
Hobbs, a 2021 fifth-round pick of the Raiders, has 308 tackles and three interceptions in a career that has included 62 games (43 starts).
He was released a year after signing a four-year, $48 million deal with Green Bay that included $16 million guaranteed. Hobbs was plagued by injuries that limited him to 11 games. Quarterbacks had a 111.1 passer rating when throwing in Hobbs’ direction, completing 19 of 29 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns.
Hobbs has played outside and in the slot during his career. He was signed a day after the 49ers didn't extend a tender to restricted free agent Chase Lucas, their backup slot corner last year behind rookie Upton Stout. Hobbs could also provide depth behind starters Deommodore Lenoir and Renardo Green.
March 12, 2026|Updated March 12, 2026 2:55 p.m.
Eric Branch has covered the 49ers at the San Francisco Chronicle since 2011, when he arrived after covering the team in 2010 at the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.
A graduate of UCLA, he’s won nine national APSE awards in various divisions, including recognition in 2018 for a breaking-news story on the arrest of 49ers linebacker Reuben Foster. In 2024, he was named a finalist for the California Sportswriter of the Year award by the National Sports Media Association. In 2023, he received a first-place award in feature writing from the Pro Football Writers of America for a story on team pastor Earl Smith. Before covering the 49ers, he covered endless events, including archery tournaments and lawnmower races, while also working at the Logansport (Ind.) Pharos-Tribune, York (Pa.) Daily Record, Alexandria (La.) Town Talk and San Luis Obispo Tribune. He was included in the “Best American Sports Writing 2001,” under notable writing of that year, for a column on the joy and challenge of being a small-town sportswriter.
