The Tennessee Titans’ attempt to fix their broken pass-rush saw the team spend over $100 million on the defensive side of the ball this offseason, including $82.5 million on outside linebacker, Bud Dupree.
But Bleacher Report’s Chris Roling believes that wasn’t a good move. In fact, he lists it as one of the worst decisions any NFL team has made during the 2021 offseason.
Roling points to Dupree coming off a torn ACL, while also believing that his 19.5 sacks over the past two years might be fools gold and a result of an impressive supporting cast with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Tennessee Titans appeared to overpay to fix a defense that recorded the third-fewest sacks last year at just 19.
Former Pittsburgh Steelers franchise player Bud Dupree, who notched a five-year deal worth $82.5 million, received the second-most cash given to any player this offseason.
While Dupree had 19.5 sacks over his last two campaigns, he had no more than six in each of his previous four seasons. His recent success has felt a bit like fool’s gold, which might explain the 60.2 Pro Football Focus grade last year.
To make matters worse, he suffered a torn ACL late last season. As soon as he’s ready, the Titans will expect Dupree to match his production from the last two years without help from players like Cameron Heyward and T.J. Watt.
If Dupree isn’t able to impress, the Titans will be stuck with his contract for at least through the 2022 season.
Dupree has done his best to put those fears to rest since coming to Nashville.
Not only has he assured he’ll be ready for camp, but Dupree also shot down the idea that his production over the past two seasons was wholly a result of his impressive supporting cast with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“Just turn on the tape. You see the 1-on-1s. If I get a 1-on-1, I win. (If I get chipped), I win. In the run game, no outside linebacker can play the run like me, in the league,” Dupree said confidently. “So I don’t know where people get that from. You can’t get mad because I’ve got other great players on the team. It’s just anywhere you go, there are always going to be excuses why people do this and why people do that.
There’s no question Dupree comes with some risk, but it was a risk the Titans had to take after sporting one of the worst pass-rushes in the NFL last season. We’ll see who ends up being right come the 2021 campaign.
