The reports of the demise of Dre Greenlaw’s season have been greatly exaggerated.
Per a source with knowledge of the situation, Greenlaw will be ready to go in eight weeks.
As another source explained it, Green did not suffered a torn quadriceps. It’s only a strain.
However it plays out, he’ll be ready to go for the start of training camp.
That’s great news for him, and for the Broncos. He was one of Denver’s big-ticket free-agent signings in March, after spending the first six seasons of his career with the 49ers.
One of the Broncos’ key free agent signees won’t see the field for a while.
Jennifer Lee Chan of NBC Sports Bay Area reports that linebacker Dre Greenlaw tore a quadriceps while working out. The injury could force him to miss a substantial portion of the 2025 season, per Chan.
It is unknown whether Greenlaw will require surgery to repair it.
The Broncos declined comment to Chan.
Greenlaw tore his Achilles in Super Bowl LVIII to end the 2023 season and missed most of last season before a brief return. He played only Weeks 14-15 before knee and calf soreness related to his Achilles ended his season.
Greenlaw, who turns 28 next month, made nine tackles last season.
He spent six seasons with the 49ers before becoming a free agent. General Manager John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan flew to Texas to meet with Greenlaw after he had committed to the Broncos, but Greenlaw still signed a three-year deal worth up to $31.5 million.
UPDATE 8:08 P.M. ET: A source tells PFT that Greenlaw strained his quadriceps and will miss eight weeks. He is expected to return in time for training camp.
The most inexperienced player selected in the 2025 NFL draft was Utah tight end Caleb Lohner, who was drafted in the seventh round by the Broncos.
How inexperienced is Lohner? “Fifty-seven plays,” Broncos General Manager George Paton said after drafting him.
That’s it. In the same draft as No. 2 overall pick Travis Hunter, who once played 149 snaps in a single game, Lohner was selected despite playing just 57 snaps in his college career.
But Broncos head coach Sean Payton said the Broncos liked what they saw of Lohner, who played mostly basketball in college before joining the Utah football team for one season last year.
“We’re late in this draft and you’re rooting for some guys, and you see upside,” Payton said. “He’s 6-7, 245. You can see the basketball skill set — that’s easy — at a high level. You’re looking at a small amount of playing time, and yet enough to where you’re watching him. I think the other thing that helped was watching him at the Big 12 Pro Day. There’s just a few plays that you see movement skills — and man, there’s a lot to work with.”
Payton has experience coaching a college basketball player with limited football experience and helping him turn into an All-Pro tight end. That’s what Payton did in New Orleans with Jimmy Graham, who played four years of basketball and one year of football in college at Miami before becoming one of the best tight ends in the NFL with the Saints.
Expecting Lohner to become another Jimmy Graham might be too much to ask, but the Broncos think he might just become an NFL playmaker, even if he takes longer to develop than most.
The Broncos used the final pick of the sixth round on a punter.
Denver selected Florida’s Jeremy Crawshaw with the 216th overall pick.
Matt Haack, who punted for the Giants in four games last season, is the only punter on the roster and likely on his way out now that the Broncos have selected the draft’s highest-rated punter.
Crawshaw averaged 45.7 yards on 59 punts last season, ranking fifth in NCAA FBS. He had a net of 52.4 yards, with 25 of his punts inside the 20.
He punted for the Gators for five seasons, finishing with a 46.4-yard average. In 2022 and 2023, Crawshaw led the nation in gross average at 47.9 and 48.9 respectively.
If the Broncos had needed a starting quarterback, Shedeur Sanders might have been staying in Colorado.
There’s a chance he’ll still end up in Denver, based on the things Broncos coach Sean Payton had to say after Sanders made it through the first three rounds of the draft unselected.
“We sat there, I watched right behind him throwing and watching the receivers, he had an outstanding Pro Day,” Payton told reporters on Friday night. “This thing is surprising. There’s nothing that ever takes place during this period of time that surprises you. Last year, we had a Plan B quarterback and shoot, we thought second round, and he went.”
This year, it appears that Payton had a first-round grade on a player who will be available at the start of round four.
“I think we all were surprised and yet the talent, holy cow,” Payton said regarding Sanders. “I think if you’re a team that needs a quarterback, and we kind of know at the start of the draft who those teams are. Again I saw him when he was in junior high, and then I saw him when he was in high school, and then I saw him when he was a sophomore in high school come practice on their way to Florida. So I’ve had the chance, I know Deion [Sanders], I felt like I grew up watching him play. There’ll be a chip on his shoulder and beware because this guy’s going to play in this league. I think it’s hard for any of us to explain what other people are looking for. We focus on what we’re looking for and yes, I think it’s surprising.”
Some would say Payton is playing the political game, given that he works in the same state that Deion does. Those skeptics will be watching carefully to see whether Sanders is still on the board the next time the Broncos are on the clock, with the 32nd pick in round four.
Remember when former Colts G.M. Bill Polian tried to claim he had a first-round grade on Tom Brady, years after Tom Brady became Tom Frickin’ Brady? The response was simple — “Well, why didn’t you pick him before he was selected by the Patriots at No. 199?”
Payton could have a chance to bolster his depth chart with a first-round quarterback at the bottom of round four. Will he do it?
At this point, the Shedeur slide could be continuing because teams are reluctant to pick a backup/developmental quarterback who will bring dynamics to the team that backup/developmental quarterbacks rarely if ever do. It’s one of the reasons Tim Tebow struggled to get a spot on a depth chart, post-Tebowmania. Football coaches don’t like distractions, and coaches who have established starters may not be interested in a No. 2 (or No. 3) option who generates as much or more attention than QB1.
If anyone can manage to navigate that situation, it’s Payton. He could quietly develop Sanders and eventually flip him for a higher pick. In the interim, Payton would have first-round insurance behind his first-round starter, Bo Nix.
It’s something to watch if Sanders isn’t picked before No. 134, when the Broncos are next in position to put his name on a card.
