Bud Dupree joining Titans

Bud Dupree has had an outstanding start to his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He has made Kentucky proud on and off the field, becoming a key piece of the defense.

But after being injured for much of 2020, he headed for the free agent market and has landed a little closer to Lexington with the Tennessee Titans.

The deal is a for $16.5 million per year, according to Ian Rapoport:

Dupree has 39.5 career sacks, which is nearly .6 sacks per game over the last three years. He has really separated himself as a top tier pass-rusher in the NFL, and at the age of 28 he still has a lot of room to grow. Perhaps a change of scenery will be a great opportunity for Dupree to pick up where he left off before an injury-riddled 2020 season.

The Titans were led in sacks last season by Harold Landry III with 5.5. Dupree had eight sacks in 2020 all on his own, in only 11 games. He will immediately come in and have a role as the lead pass-rusher for the Titans. And he will play a big role on a team with real hopes of making a deep post-season run.

With mass exodus seemingly happening in Pittsburgh at skill positions, it seems that Pittsburgh may be headed toward a rebuild. If they had hoped to have Dupree as a part of that rebuild, then they likely would have made a harder run at him in free agency.

But for the time being, it seems that Dupree is in a much better situation in Tennessee both in the short- and the long-term.