The Tennessee Titans agreed to a deal with Bud Dupree, former Steelers linebacker Jeremy Fowler of ESPN said on Monday.
The deal will pay Dupree more than $ 16 million a year.
Dupree gives the Titans’ defense a much-needed presence off the edge. He is also capable of being an attacker on nickel packs.
The Titans placed only three external linebackers in most of their games last season, which resulted in Harold Landry playing 94% of the snaps.
Tennessee hasn’t had a 10-sack pass-rusher record in one season since Brian Orakpo finished with 10.5 in 2017.
After hitting his pace with 11.5 sacks for the Pittsburgh Steelers during the 2019 season, Dupree, who turned 28 in February, was on track for another strong season in 2020 before suffering a torn ACL in Week 12 against the Baltimore Ravens.
He told Fowler earlier this month that he planned to attend an NFL training camp based on positive feedback from his doctors.
Playing on the franchise’s mark after the two sides failed to reach a long-term deal, Dupree had 8 sacks, 31 combined tackles, 8 losing tackles and 15 quarterback strikes to Pittsburgh last season.
The 2019 campaign was the healthiest since it was taken by Kentucky Steelers in the first round of the 2015 NFL draft; forming a fierce tandem with TJ Watt, Dupree recorded 17 hitting strikes and had 16 tackles for loss.
Dupree was not only a key player in the Steelers’ robust defense, he was a glue guy, joining the locker room with his optimistic attitude and personality. He ended his career at Steelers with 66 games, 39.5 sacks, 169 solo tackles, 54 tackles for defeat, a return interception for a touchdown and 65 quarterback strikes.
ESPN’s Brooke Pryor and Turron Davenport contributed to this report.