Pittsburgh Steelers EDGE Bud Dupree has reportedly filed a grievance with the NFLPA this week in order to try and have his franchise tag classified at a defensive end as opposed to a linebacker. If Dupree wins this he could potentially get a $2 million raise over what he is scheduled to make in 2020.
Whenever something like this happens, you have to go back and look at the numbers. With so many hybrid defenses in the NFL, trying to label players like Dupree into a specific position is challenging. But when we look at his 2019 snaps, this is how it broke down.
Dupree had the highest snap count of any non-defensive back on the roster last season. Out of his 929 defensive snaps, he lined up with his hand on the ground as an edge rusher on 829 of them. That 89 percent is a huge statistic in this grievance and really helps make Dupree’s case.
This whole situation with these grievances could have been avoided if the players had negotiated something in the last round of CBA negotiations. However, in the case of Dupree, at a minimum, he should get the average of the linebacker tag and the defensive end tag, which would mean a raise of about $1 million.
