Could Bud Dupree return to Pittsburgh?
He will if the Steelers have their way, I'm told by multiple sources in recent days, but he won't unless the Titans, who have him under contract for the next three NFL seasons, cut him loose this summer. Which they're very likely to do.
I'm not at liberty to share more than a fraction of what I've learned about this from the Pittsburgh perspective, but the Nashville one's known to all: Dupree, 30, should be entering the third year of the five-year, $82 million contract he signed with Tennessee in 2021. But injuries have limited him to scarcely 40 percent of the Titans' defensive snaps through two seasons, and that, coupled with a $20.2 million cap hit for the coming season alone, plus the Titans still being deep without him on their front line, plus the Titans being hard up against the cap even after cutting nine-year left tackle Taylor Lewan two days ago, paints what'd appear to be a clear-cut situation.
Except that, as with any cap/cut situation, it's sloppy beneath the surface: If Dupree's cut before June 1, per league rules, the Titans wouldn't have to pay his $17 million base salary for 2023, and they'd emerge with a $9.35 million cap savings for the coming season, as well. If Dupree's cut on June 1 or afterward, they'd emerge with a $15.75 million cap savings for the coming season ... but they can't use it until that same date, by which point the league's free-agency market is essentially all out of goodies. And then again, they can always simply designate Dupree as a post-June 1 cut ... so yeah, whatever, a cut's the best bet regardless.
So the more pressing question's whether or not Dupree's still worthwhile.
Two separate hip injuries caused most of his missed time this past season, and he blamed those on the torn knee ligament that closed out his time in Pittsburgh on the surgical shelf, telling A to Z Sports in Nashville this past December, “Just coming back from the ACL injury, that puts stress on your body. Lots of compensation going on within that time, and you develop habits that you normally don’t."
Obviously, the Steelers or any team interested in Dupree would need to perform an exhaustive physical. But it'd be difficult to dispute that, when healthy, he can still play: Over 22 games with the Titans, he's got seven sacks, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. Those figures aren't eye-popping but the consensus has been that he's still as much a general disruptor as he was in Pittsburgh, which always was his primary value here, anyway.
There's certainly a need: T.J. Watt, when healthy, and Alex Highsmith were superb, but Malik Reed was a robust disappointment -- one sack in 14 games -- after being acquired in an August trade with the Broncos, even if the exchange was just a swap of sixth- and seventh-round picks in the 2023 NFL Draft. And there's no one else of note in the Steelers' immediate edge mix, which is akin to missing a starter since they engage in heavy rotation at the position.
Long way to go on this one.
PENGUINS
• In a situation that demands an ownership presence of some kind, now more than ever after that debacle of a loss to the Oilers last night, there's still next to no sign of Fenway Sports Group at PPG Paints Arena. And from what I'm told, that's ... not good. One executive shared with me this week that it's "just a big mess" high atop the FSG/Penguins management structure, albeit without elaboration. I was further told that, while FSG has one liaison embedded with the team -- no name was shared -- there's been no presence from either John Henry or Tom Werner, FSG's top two figures, aside from attending Evgeni Malkin's 1,000th game celebration two months ago.
• These people wanted the land across Centre Avenue, the old Civic Arena property. That's what pushed them toward the purchase. Accept no alternate explanations.
• And Mario Lemieux? His portion of ownership, believed to be a very small percentage, is hardly at the level where he'd need to commit to the near-constant presence he had previously -- or any presence, really -- much less any authority or voice. From what I've heard, he's been out and about and rightly enjoying the spoils of the sale to FSG after a lifetime dedicated to the Penguins. I'm going to guess that involves golf, sunshine, fine wine, and then more golf, sunshine and fine wine.
• Mike Sullivan's the FSG darling in the equation. That's been evident in his interactions with Werner when the latter's around, and it's evident to everyone in the form of that three-year extension into the 2026-27 NHL season, a term that greatly outlasts those of either of his bosses, Ron Hextall and Brian Burke. That matters in any corporate structure. A lot. And it should be an equally clear indicator that Sullivan's got plenty enough say in the current scenario to push for changes that he'd want. Presuming he'd want them.
• Still, remarkably, zero word of any potential movement. Sorry.
• In addition to a general obliviousness in the locker room, there's also no detectable sentiment within the room of worry about other Eastern teams, even the Metro teams, making moves to improve around them. Rather, it's a 100% focus on themselves, as they remain convinced, all these months later, that they can still find their November/December form by simply getting healthy and getting their act together. And I share this just in case anyone wonders if there's any undercurrent of complaining, etc. There isn't.
• It's all bizarre. But the purple-faced Burke who I saw walking out of that building last night ... we'll see.
PIRATES
• The one-year, $5 million contract with Andrew McCutchen wasn't the snap it might've appeared to be. I was told this week in Bradenton, Fla., that there was a fair amount of back-and-forth, but also that, through it all, there was one edict from the front office: Because of who the player was and what he means, this couldn't be a swing and a miss, and it had to get done. Obviously, it did.
• Had a good, long talk down there with Bob Nutting, as mentioned in my Bryan Reynolds column the other day, and I've got to say it's been a while since I've seen/heard him this upbeat. He genuinely seems to like the team that Ben Cherington's assembled, the process through which it's been assembled and its potential for near-future success. There was no more stuff about patience, prudence, staying the course, etc. Even in the annual cafeteria meeting before the first full-squad workout at Pirate City, Nutting's emphasis was on "winning."
• Say what one will about Nutting's spending -- I've certainly said plenty for a decade and a half now -- but there's no sillier narrative in Pittsburgh sports dialogue than that he's some kind of reclusive owner. He's been the polar opposite the entire time and, in fact, has been more visible, accessible and engaged in the community than Art Rooney II, everyone at FSG, Mario and Ron Burkle combined. That's not an opinion on my part. That's fact.
• There doesn't appear to be any hard, immediate worry among the Pirates about the state of AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh, despite the sweeping issues hitting regional sports networks nationwide. And the Sportico report last week that indicated the Pirates were one of the teams shorted a payment was inaccurate. There hasn't been a payment due yet in 2023.
• Man, I hardly recognized Jack Suwinski. Meaning his personality. Just a 180-degree change in how he's now outgoing, candid, funny. What an offseason he must've had.
• As Cutch approached one of the slim openings in the fence separating one Pirate City field from the next earlier this week, two rookies -- one of them top prospect Termarr Johnson -- were walking toward the same portal from the opposite direction. Those two saw it was Cutch, stopped dead in their tracks and backed off like it was Batman. I later asked Cutch if he noticed that. He replied, "Nah, I'm too locked in. And I'm not thinking about anything like that." He then laughed and added, "But that was me here once."
