Bud Dupree, T.J. Watt, Pittsburgh Steelers. (Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports)
Pittsburgh Steelers star pass rusher T.J. Watt congratulates his former teammate Bud Dupree on getting a multi-year deal with the Tennessee Titans in his free agency.
Even though T.J. Watt is no longer teammates with Bud Dupree, the Pittsburgh Steelers star is happy for him in his free agency. Dupree is slated to sign a multi-year deal with the Tennessee Titans this spring to solve their massive pass-rushing issues. Watt congratulated him on Twitter.
Dupree had been Watt’s teammate since 2017 when Watt was drafted in the first round out of Wisconsin. Though Dupree had two more years’ worth of NFL experience prior to Watt’s arrival, he became the perfect complementary pass rusher to Watt the last two years. Together, they were a huge reason the Steelers defense was so strong and carried the largely underperforming offense.
Bud Dupree enters a tough situation now that he is a member of the Titans
Though the Titans and Steelers are comparable AFC teams at this time, Tennessee was unable to win a single playoff game last year due in large part to its atrocious pass rush. The Titans tried to solve their most glaring issue from a season ago by signing Vic Beasley and Jadeveon Clowney in their free agencies. That ended up costing them millions and produced absolutely zero sacks.
Is Dupree going to bust catastrophically in Nashville like Beasley and Clowney did before him? No, but he has never proven to be a premier pass rusher on his own at the NFL level. While he does not have to be the Titans’ version of Watt, he does face incredibly lofty expectations upon his Nashville arrival, ones that he may not be able to live up to. There is a ton of pressure on him.
Though Dupree plays for another AFC contender, that did not stop Watt for feeling happy for him.