Bud Dupree’s best free agency fit is to sign with the Tennessee Titans

Is Bud Dupree destined for Titans?

Bud Dupree is going to draw interest from a lot of teams for his ability to rush the passer and no team needs pass rush help more than the Tennessee Titans. Match made in heaven, right?

Well, there is more that goes into this but when the smoke clears it wouldn’t surprise me to see Bud Dupree in Nashville.

This isn’t an original thought, and nearly everyone working for 104.5 The Zone in Nashville is trying to get #DupreeWatch trending, specifically one of Dupree’s old teammates, Ramon Foster.

I have kept an eye on the situation and now Matt Lombardo has chimed in to say that he believes the Titans should be very interested in Bud Dupree. He said that “There might not be a better fit in the league for Dupree than Tennessee.”, he explained why here:

"Dupree could easily step in and soften the blow from missing on Clowney and Vic Beasley, especially if he is forced to wait until much later in the offseason after the dust settles on some of the mega-deals to be signed in March. Tennessee currently has just over $1.8 million in cap space, so it’s unlikely they would be signing Dupree to a $100-plus million deal……The Titans saw just how costly the lack of a pass rush is when Lamar Jackson had a career-afternoon, ending Tennessee’s season in the AFC Wild Card. It’s unlikely that GM Jon Robinson will be content entering 2021 with the same front-seven he finished 2020 with."

The big thing to remember here is that Titans GM Jon Robinson is patient. He isn’t going to be the first guy to agree to a big deal unless it is for a player that is a perfect fit for this team like Rodger Saffold a few years ago.

For everyone else, he waits and lets the market sort itself out. It wouldn’t be a shock at all if Dupree was the last of the brand name EDGEs left in free agency due to his ACL injury.

Robinson’s patience could be rewarded by an EDGE with 19.5 sacks over the last two years if he is willing to sweat it out and let the bidding war calm down.

Size, production, and continuous improvement are good things to bet on and the more I think about it, the more I think that he might be the EDGE that the Titans end up with when it is all said and done.

The cupboard is bare at EDGE for Tennessee and since they will probably let most of their defensive free agents walk this offseason, they will likely take multiple swings to try and fix the position. Dupree is worth the risk he carries, especially if you aren’t putting all of your eggs in that basket.