It’s $16.5M a year for Bud Dupree on a multi-year deal. https://t.co/vhpkZCf6nL
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 16, 2021
The Tennessee Titans have reportedly addressed their need at outside linebacker after agreeing to terms on a deal with former edge rusher Bud Dupree.
The news comes from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero, who note that Dupree will be making $16.5 million annually on a five-year deal that could be worth as much as $85 million, with $35 million guaranteed.
While it isn’t clear how the money is broken up exactly yet, it would appear Tennessee could have an early out after a few years based on the guaranteed money figure. We should know more in the days ahead.
After being quiet for the vast majority of the first day of the legal tampering period, the Titans have made two significant moves to improve their defense back-to-back.
First, it was the reported deal with defensive lineman Denico Autry, and now the team has secured an outside linebacker in Dupree, a former first-round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Dupree has tallied 39.5 sacks since coming into the league in 2015, including 19.5 in 27 games the past two seasons and a career-high 11.5 in 2019.
However, he does come with some risk, as Dupree is coming off a torn ACL last season that limited him to just 11 games. The 28-year-old is expected to be ready by training camp, though.
There has also been some doubt about the numbers Dupree has posted, considering he was surrounded with a lot of talent in Pittsburgh to take pressure off.
Come September, we’ll see how legit those concerns are, but for now, the Titans appear to have upgraded their defense in a big way.
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