NFL free agency has picked up lately with a wave of notable players signing deals with new teams and no longer on the market. One of those players is former first-round pick Bud Dupree, who is signing with the Los Angeles Chargers, the team announced Saturday. The deal is for two years, CBS Sports lead NFL insider Jonathan Jones confirms, with a base value of $6 million, and worth up to $10 million, according to NFL Media.
Aside from talking with the Chargers, Dupree had also been in touch with the Falcons and Steelers, according to ESPN.
Dupree, 31, spent the 2023 season with the Falcons, where he recorded his most productive campaign since 2020, his final season with the Steelers, who selected him with the 22nd overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. Dupree had 6.5 sacks, 39 tackles and a pair of forced fumbles last season.
Dupree would likely be a backup in Los Angeles as eight-time Pro Bowler Khalil Mack and four-time Pro Bowler Joey Bosa are the Chargers' starting outside linebackers.
A former standout at Kentucky, Dupree's NFL career started slowly. He started in just nine games during his first two seasons before becoming a full-time starter in 2016. Dupree's breakout season took place in 2019, when he tallied a career-high 11.5 sacks while helping Pittsburgh boast the league's fifth-best scoring defense.
Dupree (who played six seasons in Pittsburgh after the Steelers franchise-tagged him after picking up his fifth-year option for the 2019 season) enjoyed a solid start to the 2020 season before he suffered a season-ending knee injury after 11 games. What followed was an underwhelming two-year stint with the Titans, who during the 2021 offseason signed him to a massive five-year deal.
Last season, though, showed that Dupree may be back to where he was prior to injuring his knee, which would be a good thing for the Chargers.
