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Early tests show veteran Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker Bud Dupree suffered an ACL tear in Pittsburgh’s 19-14 win over the Baltimore Ravens on Wednesday, according to Mike Garafolo and Aditi Kinkhabwala of NFL Network. Dupree left on his own and made his way to the locker room with around five minutes left in Wednesday’s game.
22nd pick in the 2015 Draft, Dupree plays under a franchise tag that earns him $ 15.8 million for the 2020 season. After recording 20 sacks in his first 54 regular season games, Dupree has collected 19.5 sacks since the start of the 2019 season. Dupree is currently second to the Steelers with eight sacks just a year after finishing with a career-high 11.5 sacks. Over the past two seasons, Dupree and fellow outside linebacker TJ Watt have recorded 45 combined sacks while helping Pittsburgh record one sack in 68 straight games, the second longest streak in NFL history.
Dupree’s play was one of the reasons the Steelers defense entered Wednesday’s NFL game first with scoring, sacks and forced turnovers. Dupree is expected to become a free agent this offseason if he and the Steelers cannot agree on a long-term deal before the start of the league’s new year. Dupree, who played under his fifth-year option in 2019, was scheduled to become a free agent last year before signing his franchise tag.
“He’s a priority for us,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said of Dupree at the start of the 2020 offseason. “Make no mistake, Bud Dupree is a priority for us.”
Three-year veteran Ola Adeniyi and rookie Alex Highsmith are expected to replace Dupree in the starting lineup. Dupree is said to be the second Pittsburgh defense starter to sustain a season-ending injury. The Steelers lost linebacker Devin Bush, the 10th pick in the 2019 draft, in Week 5. The Steelers replaced Bush with Robert Spillane while trading with the Jets to acquire veteran Avery Williamson.
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