Will the price be right for Bud Dupree to return to Steelers in 2020?

Teammates want Bud Dupree to return at outside linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2020.

The front office surely wants to keep employing a player who set career highs in nearly every category this season.

And Dupree wants to come back — at the right price.

Therein lies the rub regarding the organization’s most high-profile contract negotiation of the offseason.

No matter how much all parties want Dupree to continue playing for the Steelers, finances will dictate whether the 26-year-old linebacker is back for a sixth season or enticed by free-agent riches to play elsewhere.

“I’m just waiting, talking to my agents,” Dupree said Sunday after the Steelers’ season concluded with a 28-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. “I don’t know. This is my first time (in free agency). You always want to finish where you start.”

One day later, as Steelers players convened at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex to clean out their lockers and begin exit interviews, Dupree’s approach hadn’t changed.

“We just lost a game, so we’re still feeling those emotions,” Dupree said. “Just know free agency is a possibility is exciting.”

The Steelers kept Dupree from testing free agency once by exercising his fifth-year contract option worth $9.232 million. Dupree responded with easily his best NFL season, leading the Steelers with 16 tackles for loss and finishing second with 111⁄2 sacks and four forced fumbles. He also set a career best with 68 tackles.

“You saw the impact he made this year,” said outside linebacker T.J. Watt, who led the Steelers with 141⁄2 sacks. “As we get more comfortable with each other … just continue to grow and take those steps from year to year. I think he’s just beginning.

“I know it was his fifth year, but he has so much more potential to reach.”

With Dupree’s contract expiring in March, the Steelers could keep him from testing free agency by applying the franchise tag, a tactic they used in the 2017-18 seasons with running back Le’Veon Bell.

The price of the franchise tag for Dupree is estimated at $16.266 million for 2020, which would mean a pay increase of $7 million.

Asked whether he is opposed to signing the franchise tag, Dupree said, “Whatever is best for me in the long run.”

The Steelers could use the franchise-tag tender as a placeholder while the sides negotiate a long-term contract. They would have until mid-July to sign Dupree after tagging him.

Bell was tagged twice, but the Steelers were unable to sign him to a long-term contract, and he famously sat out the entire 2018 season rather than sign his tender.

“Two different people, two different franchise tags,” Dupree said. “I’ll probably handle mine a little different than Le’Veon did.”

By signing elsewhere, Dupree would have to learn a new system after needing five seasons to become an integral part of the Steelers scheme.

“You’ve got to make sure you’d be a good key for another team,” he said. “Of course, money comes in. Just being able to be somewhere you feel comfortable, that also plays a big part.”

Dupree could command a mega-contract on the open market, and the Steelers likely couldn’t afford to get into a bidding war. Although the salary cap is projected to increase by $8-$13 million, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s new contract kicks in, giving him a $33.5 million cap hit, an increase of $7 million.

The Steelers also have offseason decisions to make regarding nose tackle Javon Hargrave and backup interior lineman B.J. Finney, among others.

“A lot of people are free agents this year,” Dupree said. “A lot of stuff can happen, but there are a lot of holes to fill.”

Ask the players who line up with Dupree on defense, and they want him to fill the one at right outside linebacker.

“Everybody likes Bud,” cornerback Steve Nelson said. “He’s a very likable guy. He brings a ton of energy each and every day. He’s one of those great locker room guys that you want around. He’s a hard worker, just everything you look for. I don’t know the details of what is going on, but as a teammate, I’d like him to be here.”

Cornerback Joe Haden is willing to lobby Steelers management if it means keeping Dupree as a part of the defensive core. Dupree helped the Steelers lead the NFL in sacks, forced fumbles and fumble recoveries.

“It’s a business. It’s a big business, but things can happen,” Haden said. “I hope they understand this is a team. This is a defense that is unbelievable at creating turnovers, getting sacks, getting after the quarterback. Bud is a really big part of that.”

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