Offer #48 a respectable contact.

Ask Peezy or big Red? This is how the Steelers operate.
48 will get a chance to test FA. And the money will lead him to his next team.

 

I am just going by the numbers on pro football reference on a whole. But you bring up a great point, since week 8 he has been in the high 60's mid 70's as far as snap counts. Before that 30's and 40's with one 50. So that said why spend the money some people are thinking he will demand when Tuitt will be back next year and Digger will go back to 30-50% of snap counts?

Now am I hating on Digger heck no love what he is doing here. All I am saying is looking at this position by the numbers. Unless you are playing in a 4-3 and are a big sack guy you aren't getting double digits. Right now I am reading Digger as being a top 25 FA but I just don't see him getting 10 mil, time will tell.

 

The new cap numbers are looking like 196- 201 mil. We have about 4-6 right now that can carry over. Dump chickillo and we save 5 more. Dump mccullers for another 1.5. Dump berry for another 1.8 mil..

There is money to be had. Switzer and holten would bring us another 1.5.

buggs will be in year two. Spillane or ola or skipper can do what chickillo does.

alualu is due just under 3 mil. If digger could come in about 5.5 to 6 we could pick up dupree too possibly.

 

Again quietly Alualu is having a quality season. Has Tuitt ever been healthy? He is a beast when then all of a sudden back to the tub. Good thing Alualu is signed for next season. Tuitt is signed till 2022 and a major dead cap hit. We can only hope Tuitt stays healthy going forward.

Losing Gravedigger and who starts? Dan Dan the lifetime contract man? Sign the Gravedigger

 

Agreed. Saw that cap number today. It is big.

 

I don't think they will give him a long-term deal, but the franchise tag is a reasonable option. He gets a big raise, but also has to prove it one more year before getting the long-term pay day. That's the price he pays for being a bust for four years.

 

I imagine at some point, an agent will try to challenge that and suggest someone like Dupree should be with the defensive ends, but that isn't his position. It's one of the flaws in the system and in this case, it favors the Steelers.

Of course, we have seen the downside to the tag. Perhaps Dupree would just hold out and then we have more of the crap the team hoped to put in the past with the departures of Bell and Brown. Given the way the Steelers gave in to Brown's trade demands, I can't imagine a player would be shy about trying to force his way out of town. Hopefully, they have a good feel for how Dupree might react to the tag.

 

Big year by Bud Dupree leaves Steelers with a big decision

PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE
DEC 12, 2019

With one more sack from Bud Dupree, he and T.J. Watt will become the first Steelers outside linebackers to register double-digit sacks in the same season since 2010, when James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley combined for 20 ½ sacks.

Dupree and Watt already have 22 sacks as they rush their way to postseason accolades. Watt is a candidate for NFL Defensive player of the Year, and Dupree could earn his first Pro Bowl nod.

Fans attending the Steelers-Bills game Sunday night at Heinz Field might want to appreciate the sight of Nos. 48 and 90 working in tandem. It could be the last time Dupree and Watt play at Heinz Field as teammates.

It’s the final home game of the season, and Dupree is set to become an unrestricted free agent in March.

“Me and Chick were talking about it last night,” said Dupree, the Steelers’ No. 1 draft pick in 2015. “It’s an opportunity to take in the moment, not take it for granted.”

“Chick” is Anthony Chickillo, another outside linebacker from the 2015 draft class. The Steelers are staring at the very real scenario of Chickillo being a starter next season because Dupree is poised to cash in on the open market as an unrestricted free agent.

Harrison and Woodley played together for six seasons. This is the third season together for Watt and Dupree. And while there will be sentiment to keep the band together because the Steelers have become one of the league’s top defenses, there are financial realties general manager Kevin Colbert faces once the season ends.

If Dupree hits unrestricted free agency in March, he could become one of the top 10 highest-paid outside linebackers in the NFL. The top seven earners at the position all make more than $16.5 million per season.

Dupree only has one Pro Bowl-caliber season on his resume, but that won’t matter. He had impeccable timing this season. He is in the midst of a career year, and teams desperate for a pass rusher will be prepared to pay him close to that amount, if not more.

A good comparison for Dupree is Packers outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith, who got a four-year, $66 million contract in the spring after four seasons with the Ravens. Smith, who played with Dupree at Kentucky, tallied 18 ½ sacks during his four years in Baltimore. Dupree had 20 sacks during his first four seasons with the Steelers.

Smith has 10 sacks with his new team and Dupree has 9 ½ with the Steelers. Dupree has already posted career highs in sacks, tackles for loss (13), and he still has three games to go to pad those numbers.

“Man, I just look at it like I turned my training up and got everything on track in the right way,” Dupree said. “It was the grind meeting physical ability. Just my hard work met up with the ability I have. And it all kind of met up at the right moment.”

The Steelers believed enough in Dupree to pick up the $9.8 million fifth-year option on his rookie contract, but not enough to offer a long-term contract over the summer. It wasn’t that the Steelers didn’t believe in Dupree’s ability. They did and voiced that confidence in him a number of times in the spring.

It’s just that they had other priorities over the offseason. Ben Roethlisberger signed his mega-deal. Offensive lineman Maurkice Pouncey also signed a big deal to keep him among the league’s highest-paid centers. They also signed Chickillo to a two-year, $8 million deal. It was insurance against Dupree leaving as a free agent.

“They never tried to extend me,” Dupree said. “My agent was trying to prepare for it, but it never happened. So I just sort of bet on myself. Coach [Mike] Tomlin always believed in me. Kevin, too.”

Dupree never had more than 6 ½ sacks in any of his first four seasons with the Steelers. When the Steelers did pick up Dupree’s fifth-year option, they were criticized because the production didn’t match the salary.

The Steelers are looking very smart now. Dupree is a key component on one of the best defenses in the NFL that’s carried them to an 8-5 record.

“You know, I just think guys evolve,” Tomlin said. “I think it’s reasonable when a guy’s in his mid-20s and is healthy to play the best ball of his life.”

The Steelers do have some options if they want to keep Dupree. They could use the franchise or transition tag on him, but they’d likely be on the hook for about $16 million for the franchise and about $14 million for the transition tag.

The exclusive franchise tag would give the Steelers the only negotiating rights with Dupree, while the non-exclusive franchise tag and transition tag would allow others teams to negotiate with Dupree. The Steelers would have the right to match any offer another team makes.

The Steelers wouldn’t have any drama if they did tag Dupree. Unlike Le’Veon Bell, Dupree said he would sign the contract and report to work.

“Just come to work and hopefully work out something in the meantime,” he said. “I feel like that’s something you can work out while you’re here rather than not sign the deal at all.”

But he also knows it’s not going to be that easy for the Steelers to tag him. Dupree rattled off the other players on the team that are due for new contracts next year and into the future. He knows both sides will make business decisions.

Dupree isn’t the only defensive starter who is set to become an unrestricted free agent. Defensive tackle Javon Hargrave is, too. Next year, receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster will be a candidate to receive a new contract as he enters the final year of his rookie deal. Others are in line, as well.

And while the thought of coming back and seeing how good the Steelers can be with a healthy Roethlisberger is intriguing to Dupree, he knows it might not be feasible for the Steelers to make it happen due to the salary cap.

“Yeah definitely, it would be fun to come back,” Dupree said. “Just being back with Ben and seeing how the defense would play with him, the whole offense together. Just see how special it can be. But I know it’s a business. I know a lot of people have to get paid. James [Conner] has to get paid. They might have to rip T.J. up pretty soon because if he wins Defensive player of the Year, I don’t think they’ll want him going to the back years of his contract and have to pay him $200 million. You got JuJu. You got [Hargrave]. There are a lot of guys. There’s a lot of money that’s on the table and a lot of guys that can be paid at this moment.”

Dupree was exaggerating about the $200 million for Watt, but his point was it’s going to be hard to pay two players big money when they play the same position. It’s why he will take some time to soak in the atmosphere Sunday night.

Watt isn’t allowing himself to think too far ahead. Like Dupree, he’s focused on doing everything he can to keep the Steelers defense humming as they try to lock down a playoff berth.

“We were talking the other day and saying the season is going by way too fast,” Watt said. “It’s really crazy we’re already halfway through December and we’re having so much fun. We’re making plays. This whole defense is really clicking right now. We’ve been working so hard as a defense to get to this point that it would be a disservice to look past the present. We just want to live in the now and ball out.”

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports...pree-contract-free-agent/stories/201912120127

 

The most important takeaway from that article is Dupree has already said he will sign the tender and report if he is franchise tagged.