Azeez Al-Shaair says his goodbyes: ‘Excited for the next journey and grateful for the past!’

During training camp last summer, there was a playfulness at the podium between Dre Greenlaw and Azeez Al-Shaair. The linebacker duo were roommates and were quick to point out how the other was either messy or did a poor job of cleaning up after themselves.

It was the type of fun that makes the 49ers an easy team to cover. There’s a certain brotherhood on this team that gets taken for granted. Dre and Fred Warner will have to find a third linebacker to embrace, as Azeez took to his Instagram to say goodbye to the 49ers Monday afternoon:

Earlier Monday morning, a report said, “some people around the league are making the connection between 49ers linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair and Houston.”

In a move that feels inevitable, now we wait and see how much a team like the Texans are willing to pay a talented, albeit unproven, player such as Al-Shaair.

Outside of the deal the Bears gave Tremaine Edmunds, the deals for linebackers haven’t been too big. Azeez has started 22 games in the past two seasons, where he was arguably a top-10 linebacker in extended action during the 2021 season.

Some team will get remarkable value out of Al-Shaair.