Linebacker Dre Greenlaw’s future with the San Francisco 49ers is one of the most interesting questions surrounding the club as they enter the 2025 offseason.
Greenlaw played in only two games this season after returning from an Achilles tear he suffered in Super Bowl LVIII. He played just three snaps in Week 16 against the Miami Dolphins before being shut down for the season with a calf injury. The six-year veteran is due to enter unrestricted free agency in March.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch in their end-of-season press conference both expressed a desire to bring Greenlaw back to the 49ers, but his injury situation makes his potential market a little murky.
In the event he doesn’t return to San Francisco, the team may look to free agency to replace him. Pro Football Focus paired the 49ers with Steelers free-agent-to-be Elandon Roberts to fill that void.
On the surface it makes sense when looking at how he contributed to a very good Steelers defense this season. Via PFF:
Roberts produced a career-high 77.2 overall PFF grade this season, buoyed by his 90.4 PFF run-defense grade — the sixth-best mark among defenders with 400 or more snaps. Coverage has been more of a problem for Roberts, but the 30-year-old could help solidify a linebacking group that ranked only 26th in PFF run-defense grade, even with Fred Warner.
Roberts is a nine-year NFL veteran who was with the New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins before spending two seasons with the Steelers. He has 105 starts in 140 games to go along with 604 tackles, 14.5 sacks, 12 pass breakups and one interception.
The problem is the 49ers have thrived with Greenlaw playing next to Warner because both players are good in coverage and take away some of the easy throws NFL teams rely on in the middle of the field. Part of the reason San Francisco’s defense struggled this year was missing that element in the second level. Roberts wouldn’t remedy that.
Perhaps San Francisco would look to bring him in as a third LB while they let more athletic players like Dee Winters and Tatum Bethune duke it out for a starting spot alongside Warner. However, Roberts is probably not going to want to sign a deal where he’s not on the field for every snap.
Another layer to this is where Greenlaw lands in a piece where PFF pairs free agents with teams. Greenlaw goes to the cash-strapped Bills. If his market dictates he’s available at a relatively inexpensive rate, it stands to reason the 49ers would just bring him back.