STEELERS LOSE STAR LINEBACKER TO ACL TEAR
Franchise tag could come back to haunt Dupree
If you've ever wondered why some NFL players get so upset upon being franchise-tagged, remember Bud Dupree.
The Pittsburgh Steelers' right outside linebacker was playing this season under a franchise tag — a one-year salary, albeit guaranteed and lucrative, that forestalls a player from entering free agency.
Typically, a team slaps a franchise tag on an impact player upon completion of his rookie contract, when the two sides can't agree on a long-term deal but intend to strike one.
For Dupree, a first-round draft pick in 2015, that was the case this year.
But the 27-year-old blew out his right knee in garbage time of Wednesday's 19-14 victory over the Baltimore Ravens. NFL Network on Thursday said tests confirmed Dupree tore his right ACL.
“You can characterize it as official,” Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said later on Thursday, “that Bud is out for the year with a significant knee injury.”
Dupree isn't without financial security for life. His tag salary this year alone pays him US$15.83 million. But as a rising star, he might have been able to score more than that in guarantees alone in a long-term contract.
Spotrac.com, the website that tracks and forecasts pro sports salaries, back in February estimated that Dupree was worth $16.6 million per season in a second contract.
Will he still command the same kind of money this coming March, when he becomes a free agent? From the Steelers or any other club? Maybe not.
You see, that's why Dupree and such star players coming off their rookie contracts fear the tag so much. A devastating injury can jeopardize what all young NFL players covet most, financially: a monster, long-term second contract.
The timing couldn't be much worse for Dupree, as it typically takes at least nine months for a player to return to the field at all. Often players must get an entire season in before they feel normal again.
Some never attain their former speed, burst and mobility.
As for the Steelers, this is the second devastating hit to their linebacking corps this season. In late October, starting middle linebacker Devin Bush, a fast-rising star in just his second year,
similarly tore an ACL. Pittsburgh's defence enters this weekend ranked No. 1 in the league in several categories, including fewest points allowed per game, most sacks per pass play, fewest net pass yards per game, and fewest first downs per game.
It's a huge reason the team is 11-0 with five games to go.
How will Dupree's absence, on top of the loss of Bush, impact the Steelers' ability to suffocate quarterbacks, stuff the run and cover short pass plays so well? We'll find out over the coming five weeks, when the Steelers play Washington, at Buffalo, at Cincinnati, Indianapolis and at Cleveland.
PLAYOFF SCENARIOS
The NFL released the first of its weekly December playoff scenario reports, in which it describes all the various ways teams can clinch a playoff spot, a division crown or a conference bye.
In Week 13, three teams can clinch a playoff berth (four ways for Pittsburgh, seven ways for Kansas City and three ways for New Orleans).
Two teams (the Steelers and Chiefs) and clinch a division title, with help.
TUA OR FITZ?
The Miami Dolphins are saying they won't name their starting quarterback — rookie Tua Tagovailoa or Ryan Fitzpatrick — against Cincinnati until Sunday.
Tagovailoa, now the team's designated starter, injured his left throwing thumb in practice last week. Fitzpatrick piloted the Dolphins to victory this past Sunday at the New York Jets.
Tagovailoa was “limited in practice” on Thursday.
“We'll take it one day at a time,” head coach Brian Flores said. “We'll see how he progresses throughout the week and make a decision on Sunday.”
FASTEST IN 30 YEARS?
Denver Broncos head coach Vic Fangio as much as said this week that Kansas City wide receiver Tyreek Hill is the fastest player he has seen in the NFL since Bo Jackson in the late 1980s.
“Yeah, Tyreek Hill is definitely the fastest receiver I've seen in my days in the NFL — and that's a lot of days,” Fangio said in advance of Sunday's Denver at Kansas City game.
“I think of the only two offensive guys that I can compare to him from the speed standpoint,
one really would be Bo Jackson. I remember coaching against him his few years in the league.”
Fangio didn't say who the other super fast player was. He has been mentoring defenders in the NFL since joining the New Orleans Saints in 1986 as linebackers coach.
Jackson, a running back, starred for the Los Angeles Raiders from 1987-90.
Hill has 13 touchdown catches and one touchdown running this season. He already has 1,000 yards receiving (1,012 to be precise) with five games to go.
GORDON REINSTATED
The NFL has conditionally reinstated Seattle WR Josh Gordon from his latest indefinite suspension for violating separate policies against performance-enhancing substances and substances of abuse.
Typically, a suspension is levied for violation of just one policy or the other. It was Gordon's fifth substance abuse suspension and sixth overall in eight years in the NFL.
Once he clears COVID-19 protocols and gets up to speed, literally, via strength and conditioning work, Gordon will be
permitted to begin practising with the Seahawks in the week leading into Christmas — Week 16 of 17. Meaning he could play in the Seahawks' final two regular-season games, provided he passes all his coronavirus tests and complies with the strict terms of his reinstatement.
EXTRA POINTS
QB Daniel Jones participated in Thursday's New York Giants practice, but only to test out his injured hamstring. Head coach Joe Judge said Jones will fly with the team to Seattle, but it was still too early to say whether Jones could play. Colt Mccoy starts otherwise … The NFL Network says no player tested positive for COVID-19 following Wednesday's Ravens- Steelers game … Atlanta WR Julio Jones did not practice on Thursday due to his sore hamstring … Chicago DT Akiem Hicks, an American who played his college ball at the University of Regina, returned to practice on a limited basis as he deals with a hamstring injury … Now that wasn't polite. The Los Angeles Rams waived linebacker Jachai Polite.