Dre Greenlaw’s return from the devastating Achilles injury in Super Bowl 58 was one of the more inspiring moments of a hugely disappointing 2024 season for the San Francisco 49ers.

Greenlaw endured a long road to recovery to make his comeback in the 49ers’ Week 15 defeat to the Los Angeles Rams, with his performance in under three quarters on the field serving as a huge bright spot.

But his return to the field in 2024 looks likely to prove to be short-lived. Greenlaw left the Niners’ loss to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday in the first quarter with soreness in his opposite calf and did not return.

And, speaking in his Monday conference call with local media, head coach Kyle Shanahan conceded Greenlaw’s 2024 season is likely over.

“My gut is most likely that he’ll end up being shut down, but I gotta wait to talk to Dre on that,” Shanahan said.

“And we’ll still make sure to see exactly how he is doing because, right now, we just have it as just soreness and stuff. But that’ll definitely be a decision that I’ll leave up to Dre, depending on what his health is.”

“It’s also good interest for Dre to get out there and play for him also if he is healthy and can do it. So there’s a fine line in that. And I told Dre this, just even after that Rams game, talking with him. He was telling me, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll be for sure good the next week.’ That’s how bad he wants to go, because it is a good thing when a player is coming back from an injury to be able to show the league you got back, and you’re good to go.

“But by no means doing that at the expense of messing up the next year. So, that’s something that Dre understands, but his passion and his heart really wants to get out there.

“But that’s why I say that I’m leaning towards no, but I got to get more information on that to make sure that that’s the right decision for Dre.”

Greenlaw is a free agent in 2025, but his performance against the Rams and the way in which he energized the defense illustrated why the 49ers should and likely will treat trying to re-sign him as a priority.

But it is more difficult to make the case for re-signing a player with an aggravated injury. Shutting Greenlaw down is a sensible move for a team out of contention that should now be looking towards 2025.

The benefits of doing so outweigh the plusses of getting him back on the field. If the 49ers can re-sign Greenlaw and get him back healthy and contributing to a bounce-back season, nobody will be thinking about the meaningless games he wasn’t able to play in 2024.