Report: Steelers Inform Bud Dupree He Won't Be Franchise Tagged

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers are letting outside linebacker Bud Dupree hit the open market this offseason.

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Steelers informed Dupree that they will not be applying the franchise tag this spring. Dupree played under the tag in 2020, making $15.8 million for the season.

LB Bud Dupree, Pittsburgh’s franchise player last year, has been informed that he will not be franchised again this year, per league source. Dupree is headed to free agency.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 9, 2021

Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert said in his offseason press conference that the team likely won't use a tag this year due to the uncertain salary cap.

"I would say it’s doubtful that we will be able to use a tag," Colbert said. "Again, when we say we don’t know what the cap is, what we try to do is prepare for the worst situation."

The Steelers are less than a million dollars over the expected $185 million salary cap. They have until March 17 to meet the cap number.

Colbert also mentioned the possibility of bringing back Dupree once his market value is determined.

"We are never going to eliminate a great player like Bud Dupree because we don’t know what Bud’s market is and Bud doesn’t know what his market is at this point," Colbert said. "I think that is pretty common for not only our free agents, but the whole free agency group, until we get a solid cap number, we don’t know. And we just have to adjust and know that he might be a possibility, he might not be. Only time will tell with that. Would love to be able to keep a Bud Dupree because Bud is a special player, but Bud and T.J. [Watt] together is a special group."

Dupree finished with eight sacks, 15 quarterback hits and two forced fumbles in 11 games last season before tearing his ACL.

The Steelers drafted outside linebacker Alex Highsmith in the third-round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He finished with 48 tackles and two sacks, starting five games in place of Dupree.

Noah Strackbein is a Publisher with AllSteelers. Follow Noah on Twitter @NoahStrack, and AllSteelers @si_steelers.