Pittsburgh Steelers GM Omar Khan continues to overhaul the roster in the Steel City, and now could have interest in a reunion with a former member of the Black and Gold.
According to CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson, the Steelers have “preliminary interest” outside linebacker Bud Dupree, who was cut by the Tennessee Titans Thursday morning.
A first-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, Dupree’s career took a while to get going, in part due to injuries that he suffered early in his career. He began to come into his own in 2019, his fifth season, with 11.5 sacks. Dupree followed that up with another strong season while playing under the franchise tag. He had eight sacks in 11 games before suffering a torn ACL.
He’s unfortunately never been the same since that injury. Tennessee found that out after signing Dupree to a five-year, $82.5 million contract, including over $33 million fully guaranteed.
Dupree played in 22 games the last two seasons, missing 11 due to various injuries. He tallied 35 tackles, seven sacks and 48 quarterback pressures over the two seasons in Tennessee.
Dupree had to wait to be released until the new league year due to the structure of his contract. The move saves Tennessee $9.35 million in cap space, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Due to his familiarity with Pittsburgh and the success he had in its defense — along with what will likely be a depressed market in free agency due to his injury history and recent lack of production –Dupree has been linked to the Steelers as a player who could provide depth behind outside linebackers T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith.
The Steelers are in desperate need of a reliable third outside linebacker.
