Deadline passes with no long-term deal for Steelers, OLB Bud Dupree
If the Pittsburgh Steelers want to keep outside linebacker Bud Dupree beyond the 2020 season, they will have to wait until next year to sign him to a contract extension.
The deadline for NFL teams to reach long-term deals with players issued a franchise-tag tender came and went at 4 p.m. Wednesday without an agreement for Dupree, the 27-year-old outside linebacker who recorded a career-high 11.5 sacks in 2019.
The Steelers cannot resume negotiations with Dupree until after the season. Dupree will become an unrestricted free agent in March unless the Steelers sign him to a contract or use the franchise-tag tender one more time.
Dupree signed his franchise-tag tender worth $15.82 million in April, binding him to the Steelers for this season. The previous two times the Steelers issued the franchise tag — on running back Le’Veon Bell in the 2017-18 seasons — it went unsigned. Bell skipped training camp the first year, then missed the entire 2018 season as a holdout.
Dupree, however, filed a grievance last week that contends his franchise-tag tender should be worth $17.788 million — the amount tendered to defensive ends. Although Dupree is an edge rusher, he has never lined up at defensive end or played in a three-point stance with the Steelers.
The only players to sign long-term deals after being tagged by general manager Kevin Colbert are linebacker Jason Gildon (2002), tackle Max Starks (2009) and linebacker LaMarr Woodley (2011).
Joe Rutter is a TribLive reporter who has covered the Pittsburgh Steelers since the 2016 season. A graduate of Greensburg Salem High School and Point Park, he is in his fifth decade covering sports for the Trib. He can be reached at jrutter@triblive.com.
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