By Nick Kosmider, Matt Barrows and RJ Kraft
Denver Broncos inside linebacker Dre Greenlaw suffered a quadriceps strain but is expected to be ready for the start of the 2025 NFL season, a league source told The Athletic.
Greenlaw suffered the injury while working out and will spend several weeks rehabbing during the offseason and will not need surgery, according to a source with knowledge of the injury and the recovery timeline.
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The 27-year-old linebacker signed a three-year, $35 million deal with the Broncos in March after spending the first six seasons of his career with the San Francisco 49ers. He tallied back-to-back seasons with at least 120 tackles in 2022 and 2023. A torn Achilles tendon while running onto the field in Super Bowl LVIII cost Greenlaw most of the 2024 season, but he was able to return for two games in Weeks 15 and 16. Issues with left knee and calf — the same leg as the repaired Achilles — flared up and ended his 2024 season with 34 snaps played.
The 49ers made a last-ditch in-person effort to retain Greenlaw after he agreed to terms with Denver, but he elected to join the Broncos. Head coach Sean Payton was happy that his team was able to bring him into the fold.
“We thought he was going to be highly sought after,” Payton said last month at the NFL annual league meeting in Palm Beach, Fla. “I think (Greenlaw’s Achilles) injury maybe plays a little part as to how he became a free agent, otherwise he doesn’t ever hit the free-agent market. He’s someone whose contract (would have been) redone. I should say that nothing surprises you anymore, but we felt there would be (competition). … These guys are young players when you look at their pitch count and their age.”
Greenlaw, who was a 2019 fifth-round draft pick, has racked up 455 tackles, 14 pass breakups, 3 1/2 sacks, three interceptions, two forced fumbles and two defensive touchdowns in 64 career games.
How the injury impacts Denver’s offseason program
The Broncos did extensive work on Greenlaw’s medical situation as they prepared to pursue him in free agency. The linebacker played just two games last season as he recovered from the Achilles injury he suffered in San Francisco’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl in February 2024.
Payton said at the NFL league meetings in Florida at the end of March that Greenlaw and safety Talanoa Hufanga, another former 49ers player who missed significant time due to injury last season, would be fully cleared to participate in Denver’s offseason program. That changes with Greenlaw’s latest setback, but it is not expected to impact his readiness for the season.
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With Greenlaw sidelined for the upcoming weeks and Denver’s other projected starting linebacker Alex Singleton nearing the end of his rehab from the ACL injury he suffered in September, there should be ample opportunity for some of the young reserves Denver has at linebacker to get reps during Denver’s offseason program.
That includes third-year player Drew Sanders, who has shifted back to inside linebacker after previously playing on the edge. The Broncos also re-signed veteran Justin Strnad and have Levelle Bailey on the roster, an undrafted free agent last season who played in 10 games for Denver last season, primarily on special teams. The Broncos have agreed to terms with two undrafted free agents at inside linebacker: JB Brown of Kansas and Karene Reid of Utah. — Nick Kosmider, Broncos beat writer
(Photo: Darren Yamashita / Imagn Images)
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