According to a report from Ian Rapoport on Monday morning, the Tennessee Titans are expected to release OLB Bud Dupree, clearing more salary cap space ahead of free agency opening next week.

The #Titans are expected to release pass-rusher Bud Dupree, sources say, the former big-ticket FA signing who was due $17M this season. More player turnover to reallocate resources, as another veteran pass-rusher hits the market.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 6, 2023

The Titans will pay Dupree just $1.25 million that was guaranteed from his initial base salary of $17 million in 2023. The remaining $10.6 million of signing bonus money will accelerate onto the Titans' cap for the upcoming season, therefore bringing the total cap savings to $9.35 million from this move.

Tennessee is now sitting with over $20 million in salary cap space.

Moving on from Dupree should not come as a surprise to anybody. Dupree missed over 40 percent of the defensive snaps in both of his two season in Nashville. He is a productive player when on the field, but given his limited availability, sinking over $20 million into him for this season didn't fit the Titans' vision or cap constraints.

The Titans will make due just fine with Jeffery Simmons, Denico Autry, Rashad Weaver, Harold Landry, and Teair Tart on the defensive line, and as listed in the report from Rapoport, the resources that were invested in Dupree are now better off invested elsewhere.

While this decision was less cut and dry than the series of releases Ran Carthon made a few weeks ago, it felt like the writing was always on the wall here. Carthon's decision to not designate Dupree as a post-June 1st release, however, could hint at an aggressive free agency period for the Titans.

If Tennessee didn't plan to spend, they could have saved more money on Dupree's contract with that designation.

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