Teams that intend to keep their free agents usually get the deals done before another team has a chance to catch his eye. The 49ers didn’t do that as to linebacker Dre Greenlaw, and by the time they mobilized it was too late.
In an article from Luca Evans of the Denver Post regarding the process that resulted in Greenlaw landing with the Broncos, Evans reports that 49ers G.M. John Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan flew to Greenlaw’s home in Texas in an effort to keep him. The 49ers also increased their offer.
“That was, like, a last-ditch effort,” Greenlaw’s adoptive father Brian Early told Evans.