The Pittsburgh Steelers officially franchise-tagged pass rusher, Bud Dupree. Was this the best-case scenario for the team?
NFL teams were making moves left and right on Monday, and the Steelers were no exception. Though they were dead last in the league in cap space to open the week, Pittsburgh cut ties with several players including Anthony Chickillo, Mark Barron, and Johnny Holton.
Ramon Foster elected to retire (or perhaps he was going to be forced out if he didn’t go on his own). In making all of these moves, Pittsburgh was able to free up nearly enough money to slap the franchise tag on Bud Dupree:
We have placed the franchise tag on LB Bud Dupree.@BordasLaw TRANSACTION: https://t.co/yX8VIkXXPM pic.twitter.com/oxCRlyqhi7
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) March 16, 2020
The franchise tag for Dupree is listed at $15.89 million against the cap for the Steelers, but with three players cut and Ramon Foster’s retirement, Pittsburgh was able to free up just $15.1 million in cap space:
With Ramon Foster's retirement and 3 players cut, the Steelers have saved $15.1 million of cap space. That almost accounts for the $15.89 million franchise tag for Bud Dupree, but they already were over the cap before that transaction. Which means they still need to free up $$$
— Joe Rutter (@tribjoerutter) March 16, 2020
Players like Barron and Chickillo were destined to be let go due to their substantial cap hits in 2020, but Dupree’s tag shows just how bad off the Steelers are financially at the moment. Despite ditching four players and saving over $15 million, Pittsburgh still doesn’t have the money they need to absorb Dupree’s cap hit for the 2020 season on the franchise tag.
As we all know by now, Dupree had the best season of his NFL career in 2019 from a statistical standpoint. He earned 68 tackles, 11.5 sacks, 16 tackles for a loss, and 4 forced fumbles in 16 games last season, and proved to be a solid option opposite of star edge defender, T.J. Watt.
However, fans have had justifiable questions about handing Dupree a large sum of money all offseason. Is he a one-year wonder? Was he aided by one of the league’s best defensive lines? Can he repeat his performance in 2020 and beyond?
Despite his production, Dupree wasn’t close to the most efficient pass rusher in the league last year, and he ranked as just the 63rd edge defender in the league in terms of pressure rate, according to Pro Football Focus. Still, what options did the Steelers really have.
Could Pittsburgh really afford to let him hit the market – not knowing what they would be able to get in exchange? Could they expect to find a better replacement than Dupree at a more reasonable price? While I’m not saying that Dupree is impossible to replace, it was a safe play by the Steelers to tag Dupree.
Pittsburgh is clearly in a closing Super Bowl window with aging quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger. Keeping a pivotal piece of their defense around for another season will give the Steelers the best chance to win in 2020. Beyond that, his future is still up in the air, but I expect Pittsburgh to try to work out a long-term deal.