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PALM BEACH, Fla. \u2014 Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton is a happy man.<\/p>\n
Payton spoke during an open session at the NFL Annual Meeting this week about how excited he is to add former 49ers safety Talanoa Hufanga and linebacker Dre Greenlaw to the Broncos roster during NFL free agency.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say we felt good coming out of it,\u201d Payton said on Monday. \u201cWe felt like our team got better from a football makeup standpoint, and toughness. And we\u2019ll continue to use that momentum as we get closer to the draft and even after the draft.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hufanga signed a three-year, $45 million contract with Denver, while Greenlaw inked a three-year, $35 million deal.<\/p>\n
The 49ers made a late push to bring Greenlaw back to the Bay Area, with coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch traveling to Texas.\u00a0Ultimately, the Broncos built a strong argument for the linebacker to start a new chapter in the AFC West.<\/p>\n
Hufanga and Greenlaw have a history of injuries limiting their time on the field. Hufanga only appeared in seven games in 2024 as he recovered from a torn ACL and then tore ligaments in his wrist, while Greenlaw only suited up for two contests coming off a ruptured Achilles. Payton understands the challenge the Broncos face in keeping their new acquisitions ready for the regular season, as well as the upside of the situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cQuite honestly \u2014 we would have had a much more difficult time signing them, had there not been prior injuries,\u201d Payton said. \u201cWe felt with those guys, that there\u2019s always that risk valuation that\u2019s measured in and we felt pretty good about it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe feel like in our program, we will be smart enough to understand their workload and all the things to try and get them healthy for the field. But there\u2019s always some risk with that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Payton feels fortunate to have filled positions of need, but also believes that the acclimation process will be easier for the two defenders since they are familiar with each other.<\/p>\n
It also might have helped the negotiation process.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that was a little more coincidence,\u201d Payton said. \u201cThere were positions that were kind of \u2018must\u2019 positions for us, and to fill two of them from one team, and I think that one may have helped the other too.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes that can happen, but I can\u2019t speak for them. If there is a common thread though, those two are tone setters in how they play.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Broncos coach Sean Payton believes the injury histories of Dre Greenlaw and Talanoa Hufanga allowed Denver to sign both ex-San Francisco 49ers stars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":46520,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[673,857,607],"class_list":["post-46519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl","tag-dre-greenlaw","tag-nfl-free-agency","tag-talanoa-hufanga"],"yoast_head":"\n