Who here is buying Dupree?

Pay the man, they have no first round pick or the money to sign his replacement in free agency, also nobody on the roster either.

 

Good point.

While I would be frustrated to see us use yet another top draft pick on an OLB, in the long term there will be players equal to Dupree around (less so Watt and Fitzpatrick).

 

That opportunity will not supersede the chance to make more money elsewhere. What makes you think Quinn will come any cheaper than Dupree?

 

If he would sign for what he made last year or close I'd keep him. Say 9-10 mil.. That alone was quite a jump for him.

 

His resume is a hell of a lot better now, so that isn't going to happen. Quinn isn't signing anywhere for that kind of money, either. That's the point so many people refuse to see. The viable replacements they might get as free agents aren't coming cheaply, either. Sorry, but the opportunity to play with Watt and Heyward just isn't going to come before getting paid. I don't know why anybody thinks otherwise. If you do, why not expect that of Dupree, who has already played with those guys and has said that he wants to stay?

 

Then he walks. 9mil. Is and was quite a jump in pay for dupree last year. Add a mil. to it at 10 mil. a year and see what he says. If he says no then so be it, but we make the fair offer. If not we got to plan B.

 

Age for one(30 in May) He made 10 mil. last year maybe he takes 10 for the next 2 yrs.? That gives us more time to draft and develop a full time replacement. Fackrell is another guy who hasn’t made any money yet and would be looking for a proving ground. The point is no one’s production is guaranteed and there will certainly be cheaper options out there.

Putting all your chips in Duprees basket even for a year will come at the expense of what other signings? We’re almost guaranteed to lose a couple key pieces if we tag Dupree for 16+ mil. Like they say ,it’s better to get rid of a guy a year too soon than a year too late. Maybe we lock up Hilton,Finney,Feiler etc...for 3 more years apiece rather than Dupree for 1 make or break season? Let’s see what happens with Ben’s prognosis in February. If it’s not good we need to start looking long term and not short...jmo

 

Yes sir and like I posted before there were 3 guys(Barr, Smith and Smith) really cashing in. If you want to count ILB there were 5 guys getting double digits last year. This year just going OLB there is Bud, Barrett, Clowney and Fowler who should see the big money. The next level Beasley, Golden, Fackrell, Orchard and Jenkins should all come a whole lot cheaper with very good position. So while Bud would be great to have back there are guys that can replace him with a lot of upside and a lot less money.....imo

 

There are also guys that can do more and come cheaper then chickillo too.

 

2 are already on the team.

 

Yes this right here I brought this up in another post and said Ola can step in for chick or even a lower FA.

 

We are on the verge of having an elite defense and some want to let an integral piece walk away. I guarantee those same people will be clamoring for Tomlin’s head yet over his replacements play or lack there of

 

I think most people want both Dupree and Hargrave to stay, myself included. That said, we need to be realistic in terms of what can be afforded with the very limited cap space they have.

It’s not unusual for teams to let players walk away for cap reasons. The Ravens let Mosley and Z. Smith walk away last off season for example. Mosley was a four time All Pro in his prime and Smith went on to have a pro bowl season for the Packers. It’s very frustrating but you can’t pay everyone.

 

Great. What is a Plan B that gives the Steelers the production they would be losing with Dupree's departure. Be sure to restrict yourself to players who would accept $10 million or less for 2020.

The guy had a huge jump in production last season and he is still young. A $1 million per season jump in pay is not a fair offer. It is a lowball offer. Also, how many seasons are you talking about? No way he is signing a one-year deal with anybody at that rate. You aren't being realistic.

 

You're assuming a lot regarding what those players are willing to accept. Remember, they are all going to be on the open market drawing offers from teams with more cap space. Your suggestion most likely leaves them with none of those guys.

The Steelers don't have to allow Dupree to hit the open market. They can tag him. That comes with no long-term commitment. It's a one-season patch, which is a perfect fit for the current situation.

 

Kyler Fackrell made 2 million dollars last year. GB invested heavily in the OLB position in FA last year. That left Fackrell on the outside looking in for playing time. You telling me he isn’t a very viable option to come in and play for 8 mil.? He had a 10. 5 sack season in 2018 playing a couple hundred less snaps than Dupree. Why is Duprees production guaranteed and not Fackrell? They’ve both done it the same amount of times. One would argue Fackrell did it with less talent on his DL and at the opposite OLB spot. He is just one example. Shaq Barrett bet on himself last year and won big time with a huge season. I’m sure there are others willing to do the same. Again Dupree back for a all or nothing season counting 16-18 mil. against the cap comes at the expense of what other players? It would essentially make it a SB or bust season and if he does have another season like last he definitely prices his way out of town with Watt’s deal a year closer....

I don’t know why most here are so quick to write off Hargrave returning? What’s his market gonna be? What happens if a Tuitt goes down again? Then what? We won’t have to worry about Dupree and his sack production when teams are running the ball down our throats. If Hargrave is in the 10-12 range isn’t that a better long term investment than Dupree on a tag at 17 mil.? Heyward is playing at a high level but he’s getting up there. How much longer for Alualu? Tuitt is always a concern. I’m not saying tagging Dupree is a dumb move but it also depends on how it affects the rest of our roster and that we explore every option.

 

Dupree is a starter for most NFL teams, that's about it. The only plus to keeping him next year is Ben's window. The price to do that is too high imo.

 

Agree like you said Ben’s window. Tagging him doesn’t even coincide with Ben’s contract. Would we even consider tagging Dupree at that price if Ben wasn’t in the picture next year? And who knows at this point if he is? Let’s see what happens in the coming months with Ben. I wouldn’t be making any commitments to Dupree until then.

 

I understand what you are saying but you think every single one of them guys gets 16+ mil cause I don't. Like I pointed out earlier go by last season signings 3 OLB got big money and the rest were bargains compared to what we are gonna pay Bud. Yes tagging Bud is a very good option unless be pulls a Bell then what? If one of these lower guys comes here for say a 2-3 year deal or heck even a proving it year for close to half of what Bud is getting look how much better we can be at other positions. jmo

 

Fool yourself if you wish, but those guys are looking to get paid. Quinn is going to expect an increase in salary. If the Steelers let Dupree go and enter the market bargain shopping, they aren't getting one of those guys. They are getting a lesser player and a significant drop-off in the quality of the defense.

In a sense, the franchise tag is thinking long term because you get that player off the books after the 2020 season. That frees up the money when they are going to need it for Watt and others.

 

All of those guys are going to get multi-year deals. They aren't coming here for a one-year prove-it deal. They are in a position to cash in. If the Steelers do sign one to a multi-year deal, they would be committed to big money at outside linebacker at a time when they need money to lock up Watt.

Dupree already said that he will sign the franchise tag. The Steelers absolutely have to do a better job gauging what Dupree's reaction would be than they did with Bell. That said, the situations are not comparable. Dupree is not on Bell's level.

 

Given the position we are in with a gluehead for OC, questionable receiving talent, injury prone running back, and an O-line who seems to have lost their way, our near future is riding solely on Ben because he negates most of the problems I just listed. It's imperative that we get the best possible cohesion on defense next year.

 

That is part of why I think the best option is to put the franchise tag on Dupree. The defense is good enough to contend as it is now and the offense should be better. Even if Roethlisberger is 80 percent of the player he was in 2018, that would be a huge upgrade over what we saw the final 17 weeks of the 2019 season. That said, even if he does come back and play well, the defense is the reason the Steelers can be contenders in 2020, but that won't be the case if they lose to many parts in the offseason. I get that some people can't get past the sticker shock of $16 million for Dupree for one season, but they are going to like it even less if offenses can throw two or three blockers at Watt every play because the Steelers have no one to make them pay for it on the other side.

 

They need it for others now unless you’re comfortable with losing Finney,Feiler, McDonald and Hilton amongst others right now. So no I don’t see the franchise tag as thinking long term. Long term would be plugging 3 or more holes now and not 1.

 

Sure, if they hadn't paid Ben Otherwise, no. Cap Hell and all that.