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The Atlanta Falcons are reportedly adding a pass-rusher to their defense.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the NFC South team agreed to a one-year deal worth up to $5 million with linebacker Bud Dupree. Dupree played the past two seasons for the Tennessee Titans.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter pointed out this is yet another move in a busy offseason for the Falcons defense:
Adam Schefter @AdamSchefter
So far this off-season, the Falcons defense has added:
🏈LB Bud Dupree
🏈S Jessie Bates
🏈DL Calais Campbell
🏈DT David Onyemata
🏈CB Jeff Okudah
🏈LB Kaden Ellis
🏈CB Mike Hughes
While much of the focus is on the quarterback position in Atlanta with second-year player Desmond Ridder and veteran Taylor Heinicke perhaps in line for a competition for the starting role, the team needed to make strides on defense.
After all, it finished 27th in the league in yards allowed per game and 23rd in points allowed per game on the way to a 7-10 record and last-place finish in the NFC South last season.
Dupree is part of those efforts as he looks to rediscover the form he showed at times earlier in his career.
The Kentucky product entered the league as a first-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2015, and he played his first six years with the AFC North team. His best season came in 2019 when he appeared in all 16 games and tallied 68 tackles, 11.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, three passes defended and one fumble recovery as one of Pittsburgh’s best pass-rushers.
While Dupree followed that up with eight sacks in 2020, durability has been something of a concern of late.
He appeared in 11 games in each of the last three seasons, including the two he played in Tennessee. That has prevented him from fully building on his lone double-digit sack season, although he will get another opportunity with the Falcons.
This offseason was almost a full-circle moment for Dupree, as ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported the Steelers were interested in bringing him back but ultimately preferred a two-year deal to the one-year contract the pass-rusher wanted.
That means the Falcons landed him as they attempt to rectify their defense and contend in the NFC South this season.
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