When Bud Dupree puts pen to paper on Wednesday (the day free agents can sign their new contracts), his deal will be for a reported five-year, $82.5 million contract with $35 million guaranteed.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported the terms of Dupree’s deal on Good Morning Football this morning. Details were not disclosed last night when news first broke that Dupree was heading south to Tennessee.
The $16.5 million salary puts him up there with the likes of Packers’ Za’Darius Smith and Cardinals’ Chandler Jones, according to the current contracts of edge rushers via Over the Cap. The contract places Dupree in the top 15.
After Dupree’s ACL injury, there was speculation that perhaps his market value would decline — it certainly did not.
The Titans are taking a huge gamble not only on a player coming off a season-ending injury but one who was being labeled a bust until T.J. Watt was drafted. Dupree’s career got off to a painfully slow start, and fans started to trash him.
Once Watt came on, though, so did Dupree. Dupree switched from left to right, and it had a big impact on his production. His tackles and tackles for loss went up, and his sack numbers saw a slight uptick. There’s no arguing Dupree and Watt made for a dynamic duo, but how will Dupree fare without his sidekick?
