(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Buccaneers pass-rusher Shaquill Barrett just got paid big-time with a four-year, $72 million deal that includes $36 million fully guaranteed. The Lions also re-signed pass-rusher Romeo Okwara to a three-year deal worth $39 million after a career year with 10 sacks.
Pass rushers are getting paid handsomely and Bud Dupree should be getting a hefty payday in the next couple of days as well.
Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network says Dupree is in a great place and there are no issues with his rehabbing knee. Dupree suffered a season-ending ACL tear in the fourth quarter of the Steelers Week 12 game against the Ravens last year.
"Bud Dupree's market seems especially strong," Rapoport said. "And again, there's a lot of really good pass rushers from Romeo Okwara to Carl Lawson and Leonard Floyd, we've talked about several of them. But, Bud Dupree, coming off an ACL (tear), it sounds like his rehab is going really well. I've talked to teams (who) are not concerned about it at all. This could be a guy that ends up near or at the top of the pass rush market. (He) can do a lot of things, but most important get to the quarterback. Even though his health is something that in any other year you would say is up in the air, this is a guy that is really going to get paid over the next couple of days."
Dupree has recorded 19.5 sacks in his last 27 games and would have had double-digit sacks for the second consecutive year if he didn't sustain an ACL injury in early December against Baltimore. According to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, Dupree expects to be ready by training camp. The Colts, Titans, Dolphins and Patriots are teams that could potentially go after Dupree in free agency, as they all could use a pass-rusher. They have the salary-cap space to do so as well, something that the Steelers don't have with currently only around $5 million in cap space.
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