Art Rooney II committed to bringing back Steelers OLB Bud Dupree

After the Pittsburgh Steelers’ season ended short of a playoff berth for the second year in a row, coach Mike Tomlin said retaining outside linebacker Bud Dupree would be a “high priority” in the offseason.

“I wouldn’t disagree with that,” team president Art Rooney II said Wednesday.

In his fifth NFL season, Dupree set career highs with 11.5 sacks and 16 tackles for loss, and the timing couldn’t have been better for him. His contract expires in March, making him an unrestricted free agent.

The Steelers can keep Dupree from hitting the open market by applying the franchise tag at a cost of at least $16 million. Dupree earned $9.2 million in 2019 while playing on the fifth-year option of his rookie contract.

The franchise tag also would bide time for the Steelers to try to sign Dupree to a long-term deal.

“We’d like to have Bud back, no question about it,” Rooney II said. “And we’ll do our best to figure out how to make it happen. But we’d like to have him back, and I’ll stay optimistic that we’ll be able to figure out how to make that happen.”

The last time the Steelers used the franchise tag, the results were disastrous. In 2018, they tagged running back Le’Veon Bell for the second time in as many seasons. Unlike 2017, when Bell reported at the end of the preseason, he held out for the entire year and became a free agent last winter. In both instances, the Steelers were unable to secure a long-term deal with Bell.

“I don’t think that affects the way we think about franchise tags or anything at this point,” Rooney said. “We had one, I’ll call it an unusual experience, and I think it was that: an unusual experience. When you look around the league, people use the franchise tag and sometimes it works to help you get a contract done.

“Sometimes it’s a short-term solution. But for the most part, it’s helped teams keep players on the field.”

Outside linebacker T.J. Watt, an NFL Defensive Player of the Year candidate, has two years remaining on his rookie contract, including the fifth-year option, which the Steelers must exercise this spring.

The Steelers renegotiate with only one season remaining on a player’s contract, the quarterback position being the exception. Would they break from tradition and try to sign Watt, who led the Steelers with 14.5 sacks in 2019?

“I really don’t like to speculate on the timing of getting contracts done,” Rooney said. “T.J.’s certainly a great young player that we’re hopeful and optimistic that he’s going to be around here for a long time.”

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