Dupree gone?

[meanjustinbarlow]

Many of us are wishing for the franchise tag, but is that a serious possibility?

Who can we restructure?

If Dupree walks then the offseason is a disaster already with no draft picks to replace him.

We need a RB, OL, and TE already. Not good.

[Obviously]

Many of us are wishing for the franchise tag, but is that a serious possibility?

Who can we restructure?

If Dupree walks then the offseason is a disaster already with no draft picks to replace him.

We need a RB, OL, and TE already. Not good.

Steelers potential cap casualties:
1.) Mark Barron $4.5M
2.) Anthony Chickillo $4.5M
3.) Ramon Foster $4M

Hopefully this'll help.

[955876]

Many of us are wishing for the franchise tag, but is that a serious possibility?

Who can we restructure?

If Dupree walks then the offseason is a disaster already with no draft picks to replace him.

We need a RB, OL, and TE already. Not good.

Steelers potential cap casualties:
1.) Mark Barron $4.5M
2.) Anthony Chickillo $4.5M
3.) Ramon Foster $4M

Hopefully this'll help.

Sadly all three of those jags will likely be back.

The FO has likely been high fiving themselves for “locking up” Chickillo after Dupree priced himself out of the Burgh this season.

They’ll be scared shitless to lose the “vet presence” of Foster along the oline so he stays.

And Baron is getting too many snaps for me to think at this point they’ll part ways. Seems they believe he’s the winged god of linebacker coverage.

[Pabst]

Many of us are wishing for the franchise tag, but is that a serious possibility?

Who can we restructure?

If Dupree walks then the offseason is a disaster already with no draft picks to replace him.

We need a RB, OL, and TE already. Not good.

Steelers potential cap casualties:
1.) Mark Barron $4.5M
2.) Anthony Chickillo $4.5M
3.) Ramon Foster $4M

Hopefully this'll help.

You can probably add Vance McDonald to this list. Cutting him saves around $6m next season

[Jobu]

They’ll be scared shitless to lose the “vet presence” of Foster along the oline so he stays.

Foster looks to be approaching 4 bills. That’s roughly $10 grand per pound...fair rate.

And Baron is getting too many snaps for me to think at this point they’ll part ways. Seems they believe he’s the winged god of linebacker coverage.

They’re not cutting Baron. He’s been far and away better than the guy so fucking fantastic that they needed to use not one, nor two, but three fucking picks to select...if only they’d known.

[Orangesteel]

You absolutely cut Vance McDonald. Guy has turned into complete shit.

[955876]

They’ll be scared shitless to lose the “vet presence” of Foster along the oline so he stays.

Foster looks to be approaching 4 bills. That’s roughly $10 grand per pound...fair rate.

And Baron is getting too many snaps for me to think at this point they’ll part ways. Seems they believe he’s the winged god of linebacker coverage.

They’re not cutting Baron. He’s been far and away better than the guy so fucking fantastic that they needed to use not one, nor two, but three fucking picks to select...if only they’d known.

Ya, the guy wearing #55 needs to make a big jump in year two. He’s been quite the Casper lately.

Certainly not worth what we gave up at this point.

[stillcajun]

They’ll be scared shitless to lose the “vet presence” of Foster along the oline so he stays.

Foster looks to be approaching 4 bills. That’s roughly $10 grand per pound...fair rate.

And Baron is getting too many snaps for me to think at this point they’ll part ways. Seems they believe he’s the winged god of linebacker coverage.

They’re not cutting Baron. He’s been far and away better than the guy so fucking fantastic that they needed to use not one, nor two, but three fucking picks to select...if only they’d known.

Ya, the guy wearing #55 needs to make a big jump in year two. He’s been quite the Casper lately.

Certainly not worth what we gave up at this point.

He actually looks better than Troy P did his rookie year or Shazier for that matter. He'll make that jump his biggest issue right now is operating in zone coverage. He's actually looked pretty good the last 2 games IMO. Give him an offseason and we'll be touting how he's the next big Steeler LB star.

[stillcajun]

You absolutely cut Vance McDonald. Guy has turned into complete shit.

He's had issues especially with injuries but it's kinda hard to be productive when no one throws you the ball on a consistent basis. Foster on the other hand has been just bad. It almost seems that he got bigger while he was injured.

[955876]

Foster looks to be approaching 4 bills. That’s roughly $10 grand per pound...fair rate.


They’re not cutting Baron. He’s been far and away better than the guy so fucking fantastic that they needed to use not one, nor two, but three fucking picks to select...if only they’d known.

Ya, the guy wearing #55 needs to make a big jump in year two. He’s been quite the Casper lately.

Certainly not worth what we gave up at this point.

He actually looks better than Troy P did his rookie year or Shazier for that matter. He'll make that jump his biggest issue right now is operating in zone coverage. He's actually looked pretty good the last 2 games IMO. Give him an offseason and we'll be touting how he's the next big Steeler LB star.

Hope so.

He looks good running to the ball but has struggled in coverage.

Hopefully that aspect changes because he was drafted in part to cover the TE over the middle.

I’m not a fan of Baron. He plays real soft IMO.

[fractalsteel]

Foster looks to be approaching 4 bills. That’s roughly $10 grand per pound...fair rate.


They’re not cutting Baron. He’s been far and away better than the guy so fucking fantastic that they needed to use not one, nor two, but three fucking picks to select...if only they’d known.

Ya, the guy wearing #55 needs to make a big jump in year two. He’s been quite the Casper lately.

Certainly not worth what we gave up at this point.

He actually looks better than Troy P did his rookie year or Shazier for that matter. He'll make that jump his biggest issue right now is operating in zone coverage. He's actually looked pretty good the last 2 games IMO. Give him an offseason and we'll be touting how he's the next big Steeler LB star.

Yeah, I was about to post the same thoughts.
Spot on about being better this rookie year than Shaz and if he projects upward like Shazier then he will be a good one.

Agree about his coverage recently, especially yesterday.

Most likely he hit the rookie to a degree but he is close to a 100 tackles this year.

The one thing we haven't seen from him and it might be the way he is used is the blitz. Williams has always found sacks through the A gap blitz but so far we haven't seen that from Bush.

As for Dupree, IMO he is the guy they have to find a way to keep. Keeping Chick is insane.

[Jobu]

Ya, the guy wearing #55 needs to make a big jump in year two. He’s been quite the Casper lately.

Certainly not worth what we gave up at this point.

He actually looks better than Troy P did his rookie year or Shazier for that matter. He'll make that jump his biggest issue right now is operating in zone coverage. He's actually looked pretty good the last 2 games IMO. Give him an offseason and we'll be touting how he's the next big Steeler LB star.

Hope so.

He looks good running to the ball but has struggled in coverage.

Hopefully that aspect changes because he was drafted in part to cover the TE over the middle.

I’m not a fan of Baron. He plays real soft IMO.

He was poor in coverage at Michigan. He was also a shoddy tackler, and poor to diagnose and react in college. I don’t care about 100 tackles from an ILB when most of them come 8-10 yards past the LOS. Basically everything he’s been as a Steeler, he was at Michigan.
Could and will he get better? Sure...but IMO, he’ll never, ever justify cashing three draft picks on.

And he was never the impact player that Shazier was in college. Because of his speed and athleticism, Bush was one of the most overrated pro prospects ever, IMO.

[955876]

Ouch.

I felt it was a bit of a desperation pick at the time but we did need to upgrade the position.

Hope it works out.

[fractalsteel]

I remember when they announced the trade with Denver to #10. My reaction was why didn't they move up two more spots and steal Ed Oliver from under the Bills?
That was the guy I wanted if they were going to make a bold move up.

Hopefully Bush is the answer.

[steelmann58]

if they want to keep him they will find a way always do with guys they want to keep.

[stillcajun]

I remember when they announced the trade with Denver to #10. My reaction was why didn't they move up two more spots and steal Ed Oliver from under the Bills?
That was the guy I wanted if they were going to make a bold move up.

Hopefully Bush is the answer.

They were enamored with getting that speedy LB in the vein of Shazier. They believed he would be the difference maker in the middle of that D but I believe their biggest issues were their two inept safeties on the backend and it has been proven w/ the addition of MF. No one could cover the middle of the field and we didn't have the guys to be able to run up the seam to the EZ w/ the TE. Now MF has pretty much shut that down and the LB only has to cover at most 10 yds up the seam.

Now if we can only get Edmunds to cover we would be good to go.

[AirRescueFF]

Might be wrong, bit I can't remember a time where Edmunds made a good play in coverage on a receiver.

[stillcajun]

Ya, the guy wearing #55 needs to make a big jump in year two. He’s been quite the Casper lately.

Certainly not worth what we gave up at this point.

He actually looks better than Troy P did his rookie year or Shazier for that matter. He'll make that jump his biggest issue right now is operating in zone coverage. He's actually looked pretty good the last 2 games IMO. Give him an offseason and we'll be touting how he's the next big Steeler LB star.

Yeah, I was about to post the same thoughts.
Spot on about being better this rookie year than Shaz and if he projects upward like Shazier then he will be a good one.

Agree about his coverage recently, especially yesterday.

Most likely he hit the rookie to a degree but he is close to a 100 tackles this year.

The one thing we haven't seen from him and it might be the way he is used is the blitz. Williams has always found sacks through the A gap blitz but so far we haven't seen that from Bush.

As for Dupree, IMO he is the guy they have to find a way to keep. Keeping Chick is insane.

Hell yeah Chick needs to be gone. I hate that the Steelers jumped to give him money after the Cheats came sniffin around. I would've let him walk and then got Winovich in the draft who is a much better player and was available in the 4th round.

OAN..Dupree to me is the girl at last call that looks real good due to beer goggles but afterwards look like eeewwww! Has he really turned the corner? Dunno. Has he played exceptionally well this year? Hell yeah. Can we trust that this is just playing for a contract? nope. Keep in mind that they didn't pick up his contract option until way into the offseason and it was much closer to the deadline. That's how much faith that they had in Dupree. I definitely wouldn't break the bank on him since Watt is coming up but I would give him fair value and if he doesn't take it I'd franchise him and give Ola and Skipper a ton of looks.

[Donnie Brasco]

I have Jason Worlids PTSD to sign Dupree to a big contract

[SteelPowerful]

I would sign Javon and let Dupree walk. Ola and Skipper would battle it out for the other spot. That's unless Dupree takes a huge discount because Watt is going to break the bank soon afterward.

[meanjustinbarlow]

I would sign Javon and let Dupree walk. Ola and Skipper would battle it out for the other spot. That's unless Dupree takes a huge discount because Watt is going to break the bank soon afterward.

Ya know.... This ^

Looking at what happened to Demarcus Lawrence after he got his big deal has me weary of giving big money to a guy who only produced in a contract year.

If we retain Hargrave, then we can roll with Watt, Tuitt, Heyward and the Grave Digger as our front 4. Chick/Skip/Ola can rotate in.

We CANNOT let edge be a distraction from the draft strategy of shoring up RB/OG/TE.

[RemoAZ]

You absolutely cut Vance McDonald. Guy has turned into complete shit.

He's had issues especially with injuries but it's kinda hard to be productive when no one throws you the ball on a consistent basis. Foster on the other hand has been just bad. It almost seems that he got bigger while he was injured.

I agree about McDonald. They've almost completely abandoned the TEs. The TE screens they've run look like something they never practice. It's almost comical. They never throw the ball down the middle of the field where McDonald could be running over DBs. I like both out TEs. They only problem with McDonald is he can't stay healthy.

[steelcountry]

I would sign Javon and let Dupree walk. Ola and Skipper would battle it out for the other spot. That's unless Dupree takes a huge discount because Watt is going to break the bank soon afterward.

Ya know.... This ^

Looking at what happened to Demarcus Lawrence after he got his big deal has me weary of giving big money to a guy who only produced in a contract year.

If we retain Hargrave, then we can roll with Watt, Tuitt, Heyward and the Grave Digger as our front 4. Chick/Skip/Ola can rotate in.

We CANNOT let edge be a distraction from the draft strategy of shoring up RB/OG/TE.

RE: the bolded - you need to keep Dupree then. Can't have the shit pile that is Chick/Skip/Ola playing starter snaps.

DTs are much easier to replace than an edge player. I get there's a risk in signing him but there's an even bigger risk in not signing him. I didn't like him before this year but you have to be willing to bet on Dupree, even if it means giving him 16M a season. All the high producers this year that are FAs - Shaq Barrett, Bud Dupree, Robert Quinn, Dante Fowler, Clowney, Markus Golden, Matt Judon, Ngakoue - are all going to get 12-15M a season, some even closer to 20M. The two Smiths that the Packers signed were only semi productive before signing their deals and one got 13M per season and the other 16.5M a season.

[955876]

I agree about McDonald. They've almost completely abandoned the TEs. The TE screens they've run look like something they never practice. It's almost comical. They never throw the ball down the middle of the field where McDonald could be running over DBs. I like both out TEs. They only problem with McDonald is he can't stay healthy.

Hard to throw over the middle when you field a QB that can’t see over his O-Line.

A bit of an exaggeration I know. However, either he’s terrified to do it, isn't seeing the open guys, or we aren’t running many routes through there. Could be all three.

One would think as much as that portion of the field had been vacated we’d find a way to take advantage.

One would think...

[955876]

Oh lookie, Rogers just had an easy pitch & catch over the middle for a good pick-up.

Looked like they were taking candy from a baby.

That play for us is as elusive as finding Bigfoot

[tunch]

Many of us are wishing for the franchise tag, but is that a serious possibility?

Who can we restructure?

If Dupree walks then the offseason is a disaster already with no draft picks to replace him.

We need a RB, OL, and TE already. Not good.

Dupree has one of the easiest jobs in sports and he only looks above average.

Go find a Kevin Greene: buy low on an aging guy with skills that will know what to do on a loaded defense.

It won't be hard to talk a guy into a season or two of 10 gimme sacks before hitting free agency for one last payday.

[955876]

Now if we can only get Edmunds to cover we would be good to go.

Good luck with that.

Zero ball skills. Horrible for a 1st rounder.

But then, Jibbs hasn’t exactly had success finding, acquiring, and developing coverage guys.

One could say he rather sucks balls at it given what he’s “put on tape” for Over a decade.

Good freaking thing 3/4 of his starting secondary were developed elsewhere. Could you imagine where this team would be if in addition to Edmonds our other safety and 2 corners were home grown??

[meanjustinbarlow]

I would sign Javon and let Dupree walk. Ola and Skipper would battle it out for the other spot. That's unless Dupree takes a huge discount because Watt is going to break the bank soon afterward.

Ya know.... This ^

Looking at what happened to Demarcus Lawrence after he got his big deal has me weary of giving big money to a guy who only produced in a contract year.

If we retain Hargrave, then we can roll with Watt, Tuitt, Heyward and the Grave Digger as our front 4. Chick/Skip/Ola can rotate in.

We CANNOT let edge be a distraction from the draft strategy of shoring up RB/OG/TE.

RE: the bolded - you need to keep Dupree then. Can't have the shit pile that is Chick/Skip/Ola playing starter snaps.

DTs are much easier to replace than an edge player. I get there's a risk in signing him but there's an even bigger risk in not signing him. I didn't like him before this year but you have to be willing to bet on Dupree, even if it means giving him 16M a season. All the high producers this year that are FAs - Shaq Barrett, Bud Dupree, Robert Quinn, Dante Fowler, Clowney, Markus Golden, Matt Judon, Ngakoue - are all going to get 12-15M a season, some even closer to 20M. The two Smiths that the Packers signed were only semi productive before signing their deals and one got 13M per season and the other 16.5M a season.

The cap space just doesn't exist for that.

They need to save the money for Watt. If they tie up half of their cap in Dupree and Watt, they can't assemble much of a roster around them.

I think the risk of Dupree's contract becoming an albatross is higher than the risk of having to replace him with less than stellar options.

[stillcajun]

Now if we can only get Edmunds to cover we would be good to go.

Good luck with that.

Zero ball skills. Horrible for a 1st rounder.

But then, Jibbs hasn’t exactly had success finding, acquiring, and developing coverage guys.

One could say he rather sucks balls at it given what he’s “put on tape” for Over a decade.

Good freaking thing 3/4 of his starting secondary were developed elsewhere. Could you imagine where this team would be if in addition to Edmonds our other safety and 2 corners were home grown??

You ain't lying! To consistently miss for over 10 years and only have 1 decent guy to show for it (Cam Sutton) is ridiculously inept. Whoever was the scout for finding those DBs should be fired. Completely incompetent for sure.

[stillcajun]

Ya know.... This ^

Looking at what happened to Demarcus Lawrence after he got his big deal has me weary of giving big money to a guy who only produced in a contract year.

If we retain Hargrave, then we can roll with Watt, Tuitt, Heyward and the Grave Digger as our front 4. Chick/Skip/Ola can rotate in.

We CANNOT let edge be a distraction from the draft strategy of shoring up RB/OG/TE.

RE: the bolded - you need to keep Dupree then. Can't have the shit pile that is Chick/Skip/Ola playing starter snaps.

DTs are much easier to replace than an edge player. I get there's a risk in signing him but there's an even bigger risk in not signing him. I didn't like him before this year but you have to be willing to bet on Dupree, even if it means giving him 16M a season. All the high producers this year that are FAs - Shaq Barrett, Bud Dupree, Robert Quinn, Dante Fowler, Clowney, Markus Golden, Matt Judon, Ngakoue - are all going to get 12-15M a season, some even closer to 20M. The two Smiths that the Packers signed were only semi productive before signing their deals and one got 13M per season and the other 16.5M a season.

The cap space just doesn't exist for that.

They need to save the money for Watt. If they tie up half of their cap in Dupree and Watt, they can't assemble much of a roster around them.

I think the risk of Dupree's contract becoming an albatross is higher than the risk of having to replace him with less than stellar options.

That's why I would give him a very team friendly deal or I'd franchise tag him. Make him do it again to at least prove this wasn't a one year wonder. Otherwise I'd let him walk and go w/ Skipper and Ola.