League sources have told Jenna Laine of ESPN that they expect the Steelers to use the franchise tag on OLB Bud Dupree before the coming deadline.
The franchise tag would cost the Steelers around $17 million fully guaranteed for the 2020 season should they use it on Dupree.
Dupree is set to be an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his NFL career. However, it sounds like he’ll be playing the 2020 season under the franchise tender, unless the two parties are able to get a long-term extension place.
Dupree, 27, is a former first-round pick out of Kentucky by the Steelers in the 2015 NFL Draft. He was in the final year of a four-year, $9.22 million rookie contract when the Steelers picked up his fifth-year option that paid him $9,232,000 for the 2019 season.
In 2019, Dupree appeared in all 16 games for the Steelers and recorded 68 tackles, 11.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, two recoveries and three passes defended.
We have him included in our Top 100 – 2020 Free Agents list.
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He was out of Kentucky not Buffalo