Like most of the NFL, the Tennessee Titans have had to get creative with the contracts they’re handing out this offseason, and two examples of that are the deals for inside linebacker Jayon Brown and outside linebacker Bud Dupree.
For Dupree, it’s officially a five-year deal worth $82.5 million, with $35 million guaranteed. However, the former first-round pick carries a reasonable cap hit of just $5.1 million in 2021, giving the Titans some flexibility.
The contract also contains a yearly sack incentive of $500,000, although it isn’t clear how many sacks Dupree needs to reach that.
The Titans could get out of the deal after Year 2. If the Titans cut Dupree in 2023 they’d save $10.6 million instead of incurring a cap hit of $20.2 million, and then a $12.8 million savings instead of taking a cap hit of $19.2 million in 2024.
Here’s a look at the full breakdown, per Spotrac:
| Year | Base Salary | Signing | Roster | Cap Hit | Dead cap |
| 2021 | $1.75 million | $3.2 million | $171K | $5.1 million | $33.7 million |
| 2022 | $16 million | $3.2 million | – | $19.2 million | $28.8 million |
| 2023 | $17 million | $3.2 million | – | $20.2 million | $9.6 million |
| 2024 | $16 million | $3.2 million | – | $19.2 million | $6.4 million |
| 2025 | $15.5 million | $3.2 million | – | $18.7 million | $3.2 million |
Brown’s contract is a bit more creative. It was originally reported as a one-year, $5.3 million deal, but it’s officially a three-year deal.
Tennessee added void years to spread out the signing bonus and lower the 2021 cap hit to just $3.49 million. Of course, they’ll still be paying Brown beyond this season if he doesn’t stick with the team.
Here’s a look at that full breakdown, per Spotrac.
| Year | Base | Signing | Roster | Cap Hit | Dead Cap |
| 2021 | $2.05 million | $666K | $781K | $3.497 million | $3.25 million |
| 2022 | – | $666K | – | $1.3 million | $1.3 million |
| 2023 | – | $666K | – | $666K | $666K |
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