Dupree all business with tag grievance
It’s time once again to drag out one of the most famous movie lines of all time. “It’s not personal,” Michael Corleone said in “The Godfather” in 1972. “It’s strictly business.”
So it is with Bud Dupree. Steelers fans need to remember that.
NFL Network reported Friday night that Dupree has filed a grievance against the Steelers over how he was designated by the team with its franchise tag. He signed a oneyear deal in April as an outside linebacker and will make $15.8 million this season if he and the Steelers can’t negotiate a long-term deal by Wednesday’s deadline. He now thinks he should have been designated as a defensive end and receive $17.78 million in salary. Hence the grievance.
The anti-Dupree reaction has
been overwhelming if predictable.
“Poor Bud,” one fan wrote in the comments section of Ray Fittipaldo’s online story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Let’s take up a collection for him. Here’s my plug nickel.”
“Can you blame him? It’s pretty tough to get by on $15.8 million,” another fan wrote.
“I actually hope he wins the grievance and the Steelers are forced to pay up,” a third wrote. “They are idiots for tagging him in the first place. Another genius move by [Kevin] Colbert.”
Easy, people.
(It’s strictly business.) You would want the extra $2 million, too.
I don’t buy the argument that Dupree should be more loyal to the Steelers because they stuck with him after four mostly mediocre seasons. He wasn’t a Jarvis Jones-like, first-round draft bust, but he had just 20 sacks in those first four years. That’s why Colbert, Mike Tomlin and Keith Butler were widely criticized for speaking up on Dupree’s behalf and picking up his fifthyear option for $9.23 million last season.
But there is no loyalty in sports anymore. Dupree realizes a football player’s career can end in a heartbeat and has to do what’s right for him. The Steelers certainly are going to do what’s right for them. They will drop Dupree the instant he no longer can help them.
Beyond that, Dupree lived up to his contract last season. He was a big part of the Steelers’ strong defense with 11½ sacks, four forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. That defense carried what was an inept offense without Ben Roethlisberger and that defense should again be one of the NFL’s best this season.
Putting the franchise tag on Dupree was an easy call for Colbert and Tomlin.
It also was the right call. “Make no mistake, [keeping] Bud Dupree is a priority for us,” Tomlin said.
It’s possible the Steelers could do a long-term deal with Dupree before the Wednesday deadline, but that seems unlikely. T.J. Watt is due for a big, new deal after this season. It’s hard to imagine the team being able to pay top dollar to two outside linebackers.
Or is it two defensive ends? It’s also possible the Steelers could do the same hybrid deal that the Baltimore Ravens did with Matthew Judon in May after putting their franchise tag on him. The Ravens split the difference between outside linebacker money and defensive end money with Judon, agreeing to pay him $16.8 million this season. Judon had 9½ sacks last season and has 28½ in his four NFL seasons.
There is no indication Dupree will be a contract holdout despite his grievance. He knows he has to play well to get a big contract next year from another team if not the Steelers. As long as he stays healthy — he played in every game the past two seasons and missed just one in 2017 — he should have another big year and earn every penny of his contract, whether it’s for $15.8 million or $17.78 million or a number in between.