Poll: What should the Steelers do with Bud Dupree?

The Steelers will begin contract negotiations soon with Bud Dupree. Here’s what most fans believe they should do with the former first-round pick.

The Steelers got an unexpected surprise out of one of their former first-round picks in 2019. After a mostly disappointing four seasons to begin his NFL career, Bud Dupree finally flipped a switch in year five.

Lining up opposite of one of the league’s premier edge defenders in T.J. Watt, Dupree didn’t disappoint. He played in all 16 games this season and finished the year with 68 tackles, 16 tackles for a loss, 17 quarterback hits, 4 forced fumbles, and 2 fumble recoveries. Dupree set new career milestones in each of these categories en route to the best season of his NFL career.

When asked about Bud Dupree in his New Year’s Eve press conference, Mike Tomlin didn’t shy away from the topic. Tomlin stated that getting a deal done with Dupree was a “priority” this offseason, and the Steelers will no doubt try to make that happen.

However, the edge rusher won’t come cheap. After a breakout performance, it is estimated that Dupree could earn upwards of $15 million per season. This is an awful lot for a player with just one year of respectable production under his belt.

I recently took a poll on social media asking fans what the Steelers should do with Bud Dupree. Here are the results:

Fans apparently aren’t too nervous about Dupree’s one year of excellent production, as 60 percent are on board with giving him a lucrative new contract extension. Another 33 percent of fans want to keep him around for another year on the franchise tag, and just 7 percent of fans said to let him test the free-agent market.

Obviously, if we were to know that Dupree would keep up this level of performance, this decision would be a no-brainer on the part of Pittsburgh. However, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned about his one year of production. Did Dupree give his all just for a huge payday? Will, he let his foot off the gas after he gets his money? Was it a fluke season?

We don’t know the answer to any of these questions for sure, but fans can’t be too upset with the situation we are in. After all, it’s better than Dupree shaping out to be a bust like many thought he was going to be after his fourth season.

The Steelers are stretched thin in terms of salary cap space in 2020, but there are ways of getting around that. I recently wrote about four players who could be cap casualties this offseason for Pittsburgh.

The fact of the matter is that Bud Dupree played himself into a rich, new deal this offseason. It will be interesting to see if he and the Steelers can agree on the terms of a new deal or if a franchise tag is in his future.