Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles

49ers Expecting To Start Season Without LB Dre Greenlaw

49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw has known for a while that he faces long odds of returning from injury in time for Week 1 of the 2024 NFL season. After suffering a torn Achilles tendon in the Super Bowl, Greenlaw has been working his way back to the field slowly. As the regular season approaches, though, it’s becoming more and more clear that San Francisco will need to look elsewhere to start the year.

According to Matt Barrows of The Athletic, the 49ers have been operating under the assumption that they’ll be starting the year without Greenlaw since they entered the offseason. Initially, the team made moves to acquire Eric Kendricks, planning to utilize him in that weakside linebacker role as Greenlaw continued to recover. Kendricks opted instead to sign with the Cowboys, changing his mind after coming to an agreement with San Francisco.

With Kendricks out, the Niners signed recent Packers linebacker De’Vondre Campbell. Campbell has spent most of his career as one of two inside linebackers in 3-4 defensive fronts, so he’ll face a slight adjustment in San Francisco’s base 4-3 scheme. The consensus after the spring is that Campbell will start off the year in Greenlaw’s weakside linebacker position until Greenlaw is able to come off of the injured list (likely the physically unable to perform list), then Campbell will transition to the strongside role.

To fill that strongside role until Campbell comes over, San Francisco has several options. There are three veterans — Zeke Turner, Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, and Curtis Robinson — on the roster, but all three have established themselves as special teamers over the past few years, though Turner and Flannigan-Fowles do have a few starts under their belt. Three young, late-round draft picks make up the rest of the room. Last year’s seventh-round pick Jalen Graham saw extremely reserved time last season, while this year’s seventh-round rookie Tatum Bethune may not be asked to step into that big of a role this quickly.

Last year’s sixth-round pick out of TCU, Dee Winters, though, has been tabbed by starting middle linebacker Fred Warner as a player to watch. Though Winters played in 15 games last season, he played sparingly on the defense. This spring, though, Warner called out Winters as having “the best (organized team activities) out of anybody on the team.”

If Winters continues to be a strong contributor throughout training camp, he may end up getting elevated from special teamer to starter to open the year. Winters may be able to provide the 49ers with the temporary bandage they need to cover for the absence of Greenlaw until he returns from a probable PUP stint. If not, they may need to explore more veteran options on the free agent market or rely upon a veteran of their own.

49ers Sign CB Isaac Yiadom, Re-Sign LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles

The 49ers continue to secure depth on defense. After losing cornerback Isaiah Oliver to the Jets and potentially watching linebacker Oren Burks depart via free agency, San Francisco has added former Saints cornerback Isaac Yiadom and re-signed reserve linebacker Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles.

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler brings us the news of Yiadom. Yiadom played a similar role in the Saints’ defense as Oliver did in the 49ers’ last year but to different results. Both graded out extremely well in coverage, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), but Yiadom graded out much better in run defense. Yiadom was also tested more in coverage and delivered by tallying up an impressive 14 passes defensed.

After a season that saw Yiadom grade out as the 10th best cornerback in the league, according to PFF, the 49ers replace one talented corner with another. Fowler tells us that Yiadom explored other options, visiting the Commanders yesterday, but ultimately, the 27-year-old chose to join one of last year’s best defenses instead of helping to rebuild one of last year’s worst.

According to Josh Alper of NBC Sports, Flannigan-Fowles is set to return on a new one-year deal. Flannigan-Fowles has played much the same role in the last four years with the 49ers. Flannigan-Fowles plays mostly on special teams but tends to find his way onto the field around 13 percent of the time. With another season in San Francisco, though, the 27-year-old may be able to carve out a bit more playing time. As of right now, Burks is a free agent, not signed to return for 2024. If that holds true and the 49ers fail to make any other additions, Flannigan-Fowles could find his way into Burks’ role next season.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/16/23

Today’s minor NFL transactions:

Baltimore Ravens

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

San Francisco 49ers

There’s some long snapper news to pass along! Cardona will be returning to New England for his ninth season with the organization, making him the Patriots’ second-longest tenured player (behind Matthew Slater). Per ESPN’s Mike Reiss (on Twitter), Cardona got a four-year deal with a $1MM signing bonus, with that latter value being “an important marker” for the veteran to clear.

Meanwhile, Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic tweets that Moore will be getting a two-year, $2.5MM deal. The long snapper was non-tendered by Baltimore yesterday but ultimately re-upped with the team on a multiyear deal. Per Zrebiec, Moore received interest from other teams but wanted to stick around Baltimore. The 30-year-old has been with the Ravens since 2020 and earned a second-team All-Pro nod in 2022.

RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/15/23

Today’s tender decisions from around the NFL:

RFAs

Tendered:

Non-tendered:

ERFAs

Tendered:

Azeez Al-Shaair Facing Lengthy Absence

The 49ers are having some bad luck with MCL sprains. An injury that often can sideline players for a period of a few weeks may end up shutting down two San Francisco starters for two months. Azeez Al-Shaair suffered this particular injury Sunday night.

An Al-Shaair IR trip seems a certainty. Kyle Shanahan said the fourth-year linebacker sustained an MCL sprain similar to Elijah Mitchell‘s. The 49ers placed Mitchell on IR after Week 1 and expect their starting running back to be out for approximately eight weeks. Al-Shaair’s setback will remove one of the team’s starting linebackers from the equation for a similar time period.

Al-Shaair went down during the second quarter of the 49ers’ loss to the Broncos. This represents a poorly timed injury for the former UDFA. Al-Shaair, 25, is eligible for unrestricted free agency in March. Once linked to an Al-Shaair/Dre Greenlaw either/or decision regarding an extension, the 49ers have since signed Greenlaw to a two-year deal. With Fred Warner already signed to the position’s second-highest contract, Al-Shaair may need to collect his payday from another team.

Although still a starter, the Florida Atlantic alum has played behind Warner and Greenlaw this season. Al-Shaair ceded the three-down role he held last year back to Greenlaw, whose 2021 injury opened the door to a full-time gig alongside Warner. Al-Shaair started 13 games last season, made 102 tackles, registered two sacks and recovered two fumbles.

The team will turn to Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles at strongside linebacker, Matt Barrows of The Athletic notes (subscription required). A 2020 UDFA out of Arizona, Flannigan-Fowles has made three career starts. The 49ers also have ex-Packers third-rounder Oren Burks on their roster, signing him in free agency this year.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/11/22

Here are today’s minor roster moves around the NFL:

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Houston Texans

Las Vegas Raiders

New York Giants

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

49ers LB Dre Greenlaw To Undergo Surgery

This 49ers September is starting to look somewhat familiar. After losing starters Raheem Mostert and Jason Verrett for the season, the team will be down linebacker Dre Greenlaw for a while.

The promising defender is set to undergo groin surgery, according to The Athletic’s Matt Barrows (on Twitter). Although this procedure is not set to knock Greenlaw out for the season, he is expected to miss four to six weeks, Barrows tweets. That timetable could be on the optimistic side, with NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport noting Greenlaw could be down for eight weeks (Twitter link).

While this does not quite match the injury misfortune September 2020 brought the 49ers, the team left its opener with some significant health issues. Greenlaw and Fred Warner serve as San Francisco’s three-down linebackers. The former returned an interception for a touchdown in the 49ers’ 41-33 Week 1 win.

A 2019 fifth-round pick, Greenlaw has been a starter since his rookie season. He joined Warner in helping the 49ers transition post-Reuben Foster at linebacker, with Greenlaw also making high-priced addition Kwon Alexander expendable. Greenlaw finished last season with 86 tackles in 13 games during a season in which he missed some time due to a quadriceps injury. He was still one of San Francisco’s healthier starters during an injury-defined 2020 slate.

Azeez Al-Shaair is expected to take over Greenlaw’s every-down role alongside Warner, Barrows tweets, with Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles moving into the 49ers’ base sets as their third starting linebacker. Al-Shaair has started 10 games in three seasons, including San Francisco’s opener last week. A former UDFA like Al-Shaair, Flannigan-Fowles made one start in 2020.

49ers Sign DL Willie Henry, Four Others To Futures Deals

After passing along the names of seven players that signed futures deals with the 49ers yesterday, including CB Teez Tabor, we have five more to report today. One of those players is DL Willie Henry, a former fourth-round pick of the Ravens.

Baltimore selected Henry, a Michigan product, in the 2016 draft. After sitting out his entire rookie campaign, he was a key piece of the club’s D-line rotation in 2017, appearing in 14 games (three starts) and compiling 33 tackles, 3.5 sacks, and five passes defensed. But an umbilical hernia limited him to just three games in 2018, and the Ravens cut him prior to the 2019 season.

His past performance made him a very popular man on the workout circuit in 2019, but he did not sign with anyone. Perhaps he can carve out a role for himself as a member of the 49ers’ stout defensive front.

Here are the other players who signed futures deals with San Francisco today:

Sunday NFL Transactions: NFC West

Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four NFC West teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions for the Cardinals, Rams, Seahawks and 49ers are noted below.

Additionally, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads today. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.

Here are Sunday’s NFC West transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day.

Arizona Cardinals

Los Angeles Rams

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

49ers Cut Joshua Garnett, Reach Max

The 49ers got down to the 53-man roster maximum by releasing 24 players in total on Saturday, including former first-round pick Joshua Garnett.

The Niners used the No. 28 pick to select Garnett in 2016, but they never saw much from him at the pro level. The Stanford product started in eleven of his 15 games as a rookie, but even then, his performance was underwhelming – Garnett racked up penalties and didn’t excel in run blocking or pass blocking. Garnett then missed all of 2017 after undergoing knee surgery and only saw action as a reserve in seven games last year. At a rate of $10.35MM, it made little sense to keep Garnett for 2020, especially since the option would have been guaranteed for injury.

This year, Garnett is said to be healthy, but that ensured little in terms of performance, so he’s out. The Niners will save $1.7MM against $1.2MM in dead money.

Jordan Matthews was said to have had a strong camp, but the 27-year-old wide receiver wasn’t able to stick in SF. He inked a one-year, $1.8MM deal with the Niners in March, but he’ll exit with just his $300K signing bonus in hand.

Aside from Garnett and Matthews, here’s the rest of the Niners’ cuts:

Released

DB Antone Exum Jr.

LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles

DL Jamell Garcia-Williams

DL Kevin Givens

S Marcell Harris

TE Daniel Helm

WR Malik Henry

LB Elijah Lee

LB David Mayo

DL Damontre Moore

LB LaRoy Reynolds

G Ross Reynolds

S Tyree Robinson

QB Wilton Speight

WR Chris Thompson

DL Jordan Thompson

OL Najee Toran

DL Jeremiah Valoaga

RB Austin Walter

RB Jeff Wilson Jr.

Waived/Injured

DB Adrian Colbert

OL Andrew Lauderdale