Dre Greenlaw Ejected for Head-Butt as 49ers-Seahawks Boils Over
The 49ers' emotional leader, second on the team with 34 tackles, got tossed in the second quarter after a late hit on Sam Darnold sparked a sideline scrum.
A suspension could follow — IDP managers should monitor the league's ruling.
- Ejected in Q2 of Week 5 after head-butting Ernest Jones
- 2nd on 49ers with 34 tackles entering the game
- Flagged for a late hit on Sam Darnold on the sideline
- Fined $11,941 for taunting Denver in Week 4
- One-game suspension last season; ejected twice before
San Francisco linebacker Dre Greenlaw got himself tossed in the second quarter of Sunday's Week 5 clash with Seattle, ejected after head-butting a helmetless Ernest Jones during a sideline confrontation. The whole thing started when Greenlaw drew a flag for a late hit on Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold along the Seattle sideline, which brought a wave of Seahawks players into his space — Jones among them.
This isn't a minor loss for the Niners defense. Greenlaw entered the game ranked second on the team in tackles with 34, and he's the unit's emotional engine. That engine has a history of running a little hot.
A Pattern, Not a One-Off
Greenlaw's week started with fireworks too. In San Francisco's Week 4 win over Denver, he barked at former head coach Sean Payton to get off the field and was fined $11,941 by the league for taunting the Broncos' bench. George Kittle said afterward that Greenlaw had been fired up all week, and that nearly the entire locker room from his early years would name him their favorite teammate.
The flip side showed up Sunday. Greenlaw caught a one-game suspension last season for chasing down an official after a game-winning field goal, and he's been ejected twice before — a helmet-to-helmet hit on Justin Herbert in 2022, and the infamous 2022 playoff dust-up with an Eagles security staffer. The emotion is a strength until it isn't.
The Fantasy Fallout
For IDP managers, this one hurts in deep leagues where Greenlaw's tackle volume carries weight — losing a top-two tackler for most of a game is a real dent. The bigger concern is what comes next: given his track record, a fine or short suspension from the league wouldn't be a surprise.
Darnold owners can exhale, since he stayed in the game. Seattle's QB has 560 passing yards and 6 TDs through three games (2026 season, actual) and sits as our QB13, so this is noise for his managers, not news. On the IDP side, treat Greenlaw as a WATCH until the league rules — don't drop a producer this good over one ejection, but have a streaming linebacker ready in case he sits a week.
