Dre Greenlaw headed to IR: Broncos have horribly mismanaged their new linebacker

The Denver Broncos have announced that linebacker Dre Greenlaw is going to be placed on short-term injured reserve. The move makes him ineligible to suit up before Week 7. 

It's a difficult setback for the Broncos, as the inside linebacker spot has become their most glaring weakness. Alex Singleton struggled mightily last week in a loss to the Indianapolis Colts and the only other players on the roster at that position are Justin Strnad and Karene Reid. 

The Broncos took a risk when signing Greenlaw, who played in just two games in 2024, after tearing his Achilles in the Super Bowl the year before. Thus far, the risk isn't even coming close to paying off. 

To this point, it looks like the #49ers made the right decision to let Dre Greenlaw walk and ride with Dee Winters.

Greenlaw had a setback during the offseason when he suffered a quad injury and he has yet to be able to do much of anything for the Broncos. The team was hoping to bring him along slowly in practice and have him available for the Week 4 game against the Cincinnati Bengals, but that was not in the cards. 

The Broncos have essentially wasted a spot on their 53-man roster to this point when Greenlaw could have gone on IR to begin the season. Instead, the team was hoping he would be available only go go on IR anyway. Still, the team should have been looking for other options outside the organization as the group at inside linebacker is fairly weak. 

Garrett Wallow will be elevated from the practice squad for Sunday's game and the team still has Levelle Bailey and Jordan Turner on the practice squad. But a better, more experienced player is going to be needed as it's unclear when — or even if — Greenlaw is going to play for this team. 

READ: Has Sean Payton forgotten how to use the joker position?

There is a chance that when Greenlaw gets back to 100 percent, he ends up making a huge contribution to this team. But to this point, his signing has been a complete disaster. 

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