One of the biggest offseason decisions the Pittsburgh Steelers have to make when the new league year starts is whether or not to use the franchise tag on edge rusher Bud Dupree. The Steelers have been holding off on making a decision, presumably to see if the new collective bargaining agreement passes.
If the NFL gets a new CBA, the Steelers should get some salary-cap relief which would make this huge financial decision somewhat more bearable.
However, just some extra cap space might not be the biggest worry for Dupree and the Steelers. As ESPN NFL reporter Jeremy Fowler points out, guys like Dupree are hard to categorize in terms of their position. While Dupree is listed as an outside linebacker,
But based on how the Steelers lined up last season, he was almost certainly more of a defensive end in terms of his role and position. The Steelers played 29% base, 51% nickel, and 17% dime last season. So if he’s a ROLB in base and an EDGE in nickel/dime, he’d be about a 30% linebacker.
The difference between the franchise tag for a linebacker and a defensive end is around $3 million in favor of the DE, which Dupree has a good case to be called. But would the Steelers go for it? Highly unlikely but you couldn’t fault Dupree for trying to maximize his earnings without a long-term contract.
