Teams that intend to keep their free agents usually get the deals done before another team has a chance to catch his eye. The 49ers didn't do that as to linebacker Dre Greenlaw, and by the time they mobilized it was too late.
In an article from Luca Evans of the Denver Post regarding the process that resulted in Greenlaw landing with the Broncos, Evans reports that 49ers G.M. John Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan flew to Greenlaw's home in Texas in an effort to keep him. The 49ers also increased their offer.
“That was, like, a last-ditch effort,” Greenlaw's adoptive father Brian Early told Evans.
But it was too late. Greenlaw had been courted by the Broncos, and he'd made up his mind.
Greenlaw's agent, J.R. Carroll, separately told Evans that Greenlaw sensed an opportunity to have a "fresh start" with an ascending defense in Denver. Another factor was the fact that the 49ers have been losing plenty of players.
One who's staying was Greenlaw's partner at middle linebacker, Fred Warner.
“It just looked different when him and I were going after other teams from the second level, and just trying to erase space in the middle of the field,” Warner told Evans. “He’s, by far, one of the greatest athletes and football players I’ve ever played with, and it was truly an honor to play alongside him. . . . I even told him, and I always say, that I would not be the player that I am today without playing alongside Dre Greenlaw."
Greenlaw's adoptive father saw it a little differently.
“Hey, man, you stay in San Francisco, you’re Scottie Pippen,” Early told Greenlaw. “And Fred Warner is [Michael Jordan]. . . . Go be frickin’ MJ."
Greenlaw now gets the chance to do just that.
