{"id":68969,"date":"2025-07-16T10:07:21","date_gmt":"2025-07-16T10:07:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=68969"},"modified":"2025-07-16T10:07:21","modified_gmt":"2025-07-16T10:07:21","slug":"31-million-total-savage-draws-significant-praise-after-joining-broncos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=68969","title":{"rendered":"$31 Million \u2018Total Savage\u2019 Draws Significant Praise After Joining Broncos"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\">\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/MixCollage-27-May-2025-08-56-AM-2585-e1748355440893.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/MixCollage-27-May-2025-08-56-AM-2585-e1748355440893.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/MixCollage-27-May-2025-08-56-AM-2585-e1748355440893.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/MixCollage-27-May-2025-08-56-AM-2585-e1748355440893.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"$31 Million \u2018Total Savage\u2019 Draws Significant Praise After Joining Broncos\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" \/><\/figure>\n<div>\n<p>Getty<\/p>\n<p>Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton reacts against the New York Jets.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Denver Broncos did what several other teams wanted to do this offseason, signing veteran linebacker Dre Greenlaw in free agency, and their reward is a top-10 player at his position with tremendous upside.<\/p>\n<p>The 28-year-old arrives in Denver after six seasons with the San Francisco 49ers. He has battled injuries during his career, including a torn Achilles in the Super Bowl in 2023.<\/p>\n<p>If healthy, though, Greenlaw is expected to make a big impact.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUsually, a player coming off an injury-riddled season would not maintain his spot in the rankings,\u201d ESPN\u2019s Jeremy Fowler wrote on July 15, explaining the new Broncos star earning ninth place on the list for the second straight season. \u201cBut Greenlaw\u2019s free agency told the story. Several league evaluators said he was the most exciting free agent, despite a torn Achilles in Super Bowl LVIII that cost him all but two games in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen the Broncos signed him to a three-year, $31.5 million deal, the feeling of remorse out of San Francisco was real.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Before joining the Broncos, Greenlaw was a fifth-round pick by the 49ers in the 2019 draft. He logged back-to-back 120-plus-tackle efforts during the 2022 and 2023 regular seasons despite playing in 15 games in each campaign.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Rivals Rave About Dre Greenlaw<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_5381205\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-1968875198-3-e1749236864557.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" alt=\"$31 Million \u2018Total Savage\u2019 Draws Significant Praise After Joining Broncos\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5381205\" data-lazy-load=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-5381205\">GettyDre Greenlaw #57 of the San Francisco 49ers celebrates after a stop against the Detroit Lions in the NFC Championship Game.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The 49ers tried to convince Greenlaw to rethink his agreement with the Broncos before the deal was officially signed, sending general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan to visit the linebacker for one final plea.<\/p>\n<p>An anonymous 49ers source told Fowler the organization \u201cone-million percent\u201d had \u201cremorse\u201d about losing Greenlaw to the Broncos.<\/p>\n<p>An NFL coordinator called Greenlaw a \u201ctotal savage\u201d and \u201ctop-five\u201d when healthy, per Fowler.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s got to stay healthy and re-prove it, but he\u2019s a badass, smart, strong, will knock the s\u2014 out of you,\u2019 an anonymous defensive coach said, per Fowler. \u201cI see how he stays hurt so much, because he plays with so much explosion.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Former 49ers teammate Fred Warner, No. 1 on ESPN\u2019s list for the second straight season, also spoke highly of Greenlaw.<\/p>\n<p>Warner told The Denver Post\u2019s Parker Gabriel, \u201cIt was truly an honor\u201d playing with Greenlaw.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn my opinion, he\u2019s just getting started,\u201d Warner said, per Gabriel in March. \u201cHe\u2019s still so young in this game. And unfortunately for us (the Broncos) got him at the perfect time, man, where you can expect a lot of great things from him going forward in Denver.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Greenlaw and the Broncos will open the 2025 preseason against the 49ers.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Broncos Had Early Injury Scare With Dre Greenlaw<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_5341546\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-2003877678-1-e1745799814363.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" alt=\"$31 Million \u2018Total Savage\u2019 Draws Significant Praise After Joining Broncos\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5341546\" data-lazy-load=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-5341546\">GettyFormer San Francisco 49ers LB Dre Greenlaw #57 reacts on the field during the second quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs during Super Bowl LVIII.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Greenlaw\u2019s injury history became the Broncos\u2019 reality this offseason when reports surfaced that the veteran had suffered a torn quad muscle.<\/p>\n<p>The Broncos clarified that Greenlaw was dealing with a strain and would return in time for training camp, which opens on July 22 for the team\u2019s vets. Greenlaw also confirmed that he was not dealing with a tear, but he still missed most of the Broncos\u2019 offseason program.<\/p>\n<p>Broncos head coach Sean Payton believes strongly in their strength and conditioning staff.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe injury data, I could give you the graph. I think \u2013 32 teams \u2013 a year ago, we finished first. This year we\u2019re currently second from the \u2013 I don\u2019t want to use the wrong word \u2013 but from what was taking place prior, all right? And that\u2019s a credit to Beau Lowery. It\u2019s a credit to the training room, the strength and development. It\u2019s a credit to everyone involved,\u201d Payton told reporters in January.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s more than a year of proof, there\u2019s two years of proof. And for those prior that it didn\u2019t work out so well for \u2013 tough. That\u2019s just what it was. They earned those numbers. When you have 134 players miss games because of injuries, something\u2019s wrong. And then when you have 30 something two years in a row, something\u2019s right.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"3e04b168b58c52c38cd67c43da63d613\">\n<div data-url=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ZacStevensDNVR\/status\/1938999087703236825\">\n<blockquote data-dnt=\"true\" data-width=\"550\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Pat Surtain II said Talanoa Hufanga and Dre Greenlaw\u2019s attitude and winning experience will help the Broncos continue to take steps in the right direction pic.twitter.com\/hBSZIhUBPl<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Zac Stevens (@ZacStevensDNVR) June 28, 2025<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In addition to Greenlaw, the Broncos signed Greenlaw\u2019s former 49ers teammate Talanoa Hufanga and ex-Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Evan Engram in free agency.<\/p>\n<p>All three of them come with extensive injury histories.<\/p>\n<p>Josh Buckhalter covers the NBA and NFL for Heavy.com. He has covered both leagues since 2016, including bylines at FanSided, Last Word on Sports and Clocker Sports. He&#8217;s based in Villa Park, Illinois. Follow Josh on Twitter and Instagram: @JoshGBuck More about Josh Buckhalter<\/p>\n<h2>More Heavy on Broncos<\/h2>\n<p>Loading more stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Denver Broncos got aggressive this offseason, and one of their most significant decisions was adding Dre Greenlaw in free agency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":68970,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>$31 Million \u2018Total Savage\u2019 Draws Significant Praise After Joining Broncos - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=68969\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"$31 Million \u2018Total Savage\u2019 Draws Significant Praise After Joining Broncos - 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