Oftentimes an NFL general manager will call a player into his office or at least give him a phone call when he’s going to release them. But one recently-released player apparently needed the bird app to find out what happened to him.
This week the Tennessee Titans released pass rusher Bud Dupree after just two seasons on a five-year deal they signed him to. But Tennessee’s new general manager Ran Carthon apparently lost Dupree’s phone number.
Dupree took to social media and revealed that he only found out that he was being released via Twitter. “Damn I found out on Twitter,” he wrote, per Dov Kleiman.
As frustrating as that might have been for Dupree, he probably could have at least seen his release coming. Missing 12 games over the last two seasons and struggling to produce even when healthy was not a recipe for staying.
Bud Dupree was a first-round pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2015 NFL Draft. Over his six years in Pittsburgh, Dupree had 39.5 sacks, 54 tackles for loss and 65 QB hits.
Dupree parlayed his success in Pittsburgh into a five-year, $82.5 million contract with the Titans in 2021. But injuries followed him to Tennessee and the end result was career-lows in sacks during both years with the team.
Dupree should have little trouble latching onto a new team, but the way he got left out in the cold will probably leave him doubly motivated heading into 2023.