{"id":691516,"date":"2026-04-01T08:38:48","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T08:38:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/691516\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T08:38:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T08:38:48","slug":"dre-greenlaw-offers-telling-words-after-failed-broncos-tenure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/691516\/","title":{"rendered":"Dre Greenlaw Offers Telling Words After Failed Broncos Tenure"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"Dre\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Dre Greenlaw #57 of the Denver Broncos reacts in a game against the Houston Texans.<\/p>\n

The Denver Broncos<\/a> hoped that Dre Greenlaw<\/a> would help shore up their pass defense at the second level. After one injury-marred season, though, the Broncos cut ties with Greenlaw, one of their prized free agent signings during the 2025 offseason.<\/p>\n

He played eight games during the regular season.<\/p>\n

Greenlaw returned in time for the Broncos\u2019 postseason run to the AFC Championship Game, but the partnership still ended in what head coach Sean Payton<\/a> noted was a tough call.<\/p>\n

Broncos Made \u2018Tough\u2019 Decision on Dre Greenlaw\"Dre<\/p>\n

GettyDenver Broncos linebacker Dre Greenlaw reacts against the Houston Texans<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Greenlaw signed a three-year, $31.5 million contract<\/a> with the Broncos after beginning his career with the San Francisco 49ers<\/a>. He returned to the 49ers after the Broncos cut him this offseason, a decision Payton said was \u201ctough.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s so passionate. I would say in my career as a coach, I\u2019ve been lucky enough to coach a lot of passionate players that love the game,\u201d Payton told reporters, per The Denver Gazette\u2019s Chris Tomasson<\/a> on March 31. \u201cI\u2019m always disappointed internally that that didn\u2019t work out and because, I love that player. I love how he competes. I love all the things he brings. And you feel somewhat responsible when it doesn\u2019t work out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greenlaw echoed Payton\u2019s sentiments, lauding the Broncos organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, it was a tough year, brother. It was a tough year. One of my toughest \u2026 years,\u201d Greenlaw told former NFL offensive tackle Terron Armstead<\/a> on \u201cThe Set<\/a>\u201d podcast on March 30.<\/p>\n

\u201cLove the organization, great organization, great people in the organization. I felt like the training staff was second to none. Just teammate-wise, man, great teammates, man. A really, really close building. Very, very similar to how it was in the Niners, man.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dre Greenlaw Never Got Fully Healthy in 2025\"Dre<\/p>\n

GettyDre Greenlaw of the San Francisco 49ers speaks to the media ahead of Super Bowl LVIII.<\/p>\n

Greenlaw, who mentioned a lack of interest from the Niners in discussing a deal, said he felt like he was a rookie again as a first-time veteran free agent. However, Greenlaw also revealed how signing with the Broncos altered his approach to rehabbing from multiple injuries<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He had ruptured his Achilles during the Super Bowl in 2023, playing in two games in 2024.<\/p>\n

Greenlaw dealt with quad injuries<\/a> and a hamstring issue during his brief tenure with the Broncos, for whom he said he altered his rehab.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce I got the call to be a Bronco, I talked to my trainer here, and he\u2019s like, \u2018Hey, man, we going to start picking up the intensity and things like that because the Broncos practice different than the Niners. You\u2019re not going to be able to come in there and just like how you were with the Niners, and they take care of your body.\u2019 This and that. \u2018Broncos, they\u2019re going to want you to go every day. They\u2019re six days on. Their rehab is tough.\u2019 All of this and this. So, I\u2019m just like, \u2018Okay, let\u2019s get it going.\u2019 And we started picking it up. Started picking it up,\u201d Greenlaw said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce I just got there, man, it just\u2013it was tough. Because it was like, I pulled my quad second day I got there, right? \u2026Should have been just smarter about where I was going in this training with them. You going into a new spot, you want to get going, this and that, and that. Basically just had some hiccups that I really just\u2013I felt like I had no control over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greenlaw also received a one-game suspension<\/a> for using abusive language toward an official at the end of the preceding contest. He appealed, but the suspension was upheld. Greenlaw finished his time in Denver with 43 total tackles, 1.0 sacks, and 1 forced fumble.<\/p>\n

Dre Greenlaw Grew Unhappy in Denver\"Dre<\/p>\n

GettyDre Greenlaw #57 of the Denver Broncos reacts in a game against the Houston Texans.<\/p>\n

Greenlaw called it a \u201croller coaster of a ride,\u201d and said he \u201ccould never get the ball rolling\u201d with the Broncos due to his health<\/a>. He also cited the switch in defensive schemes in light of his missing practice time.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it was the fact that I\u2019m not healthy. I don\u2019t feel that twitch or that gear that I feel like I need to have. But, obviously, I\u2019m out here trying to do everything I can to be on the field. But it makes it tough when you pay a guy $11 mil[lion], and he\u2019s only on the field 50% of the time. So, it just\u2013it made it tough for me, bro. And it made it to the point where it kind of makes you not happy, you know what I\u2019m saying?\u201d Greenlaw said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s really what it boiled down to at the end of the day. And everything works out for a reason, man. Everything works out in God\u2019s timing, man. And I don\u2019t regret none of it, this situation that happened. I\u2019m thankful for it all. For Sean and for \u2026 everybody that accepted me into that organization, teammates and all. But yeah, I\u2019m excited to be a Niner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Armstead, who played for Payton on the New Orleans Saints<\/a>, believes the Broncos and Greenlaw fell victim to misfortune, missing out on what seemed like a strong fit.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tJosh Buckhalter<\/a> 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’s based in Villa Park, Illinois. Follow Josh on Twitter and Instagram: @JoshGBuck More about Josh Buckhalter<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Dre Greenlaw #57 of the Denver Broncos reacts in a game against the Houston Texans. The Denver…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":691517,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3781],"tags":[7,301,187,3943,6,302],"class_list":{"0":"post-691516","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-denver-nuggets","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-denver","10":"tag-denver-nuggets","11":"tag-denvernuggets","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-nuggets"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116328555258811904","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=691516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691516\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/691517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=691516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=691516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=691516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}