Kovacevic: Can't risk removing Bud

It's New Year's Eve, and the predictions for 2020 will be pouring at the pace of champagne.

None will top the one T.J. Watt shared with me on the afternoon of May 29. This was after one of the Steelers' OTA sessions at the Rooney Complex. The topic was Bud Dupree's frustrating NFL career to that point and, with Watt passionately defending his bookend outside linebacker, I'd just interjected that Watt, unlike Dupree, had been producing splash since his rookie year.

“I get that," Watt came back. "But there’s a lot more to game than the finish. Bud makes me a better player. The push, the pressure he creates, that benefits me, benefits all of us as a defense. But yeah, the position’s about the finish. And I think Bud’s going to have a really big year. I see the work he puts in every day. I see the commitment, the love of football, the love he has for his teammates, the desire to improve. I’m really excited for him, to be honest.”

By year's end, so was everyone else, huh?

In fact, everyone's flipped the script from freaking out over the $9.25 million the front office agreed to pay Dupree in 2019 to fretting over how they'll keep him from free agency. Well, 11.5 sacks and countless generally superb performances later, that'll cost either a long-term contract or a franchise tag, the price for which was $15.2 million in the NFL this year.

Talk about "a really big year."

I couldn't help but remind T.J. of his prediction Monday at the Rooney Complex, where the players were gathered for the locker cleanout following the elimination loss in Baltimore:

Good stuff, huh?

If you didn't watch that, I'd advise pushing play. He's the NFL's best defensive player. He's worth it.

And in addition to his actual answer, it should probably be underscored that he went out of his way to include this: "Just to think that there's a possibility that we might not be together next year is very unfortunate and sad."

This, too: "Bud's gonna get paid somewhere if it isn't here."

Ouch. You can hear my question up there. It had zip to do with Bud's contract status.

But trust me, that's highly representative of the room as a whole. Joe Haden, who spoke with media as long Monday as he had the previous day in Baltimore, brought this up with gusto, saying he "really, really" hopes the team keeps Bud.

I feel really, really strongly the same way, and not just because, as my columns over the years will support, I've believed in Bud from the beginning. No, it's much more about the broader picture his departure would paint for what just might be the NFL's best defense. Because it isn't just about Bud benefiting T.J., as he addressed above, but also all the other puzzle pieces.

Here's one of my favorite examples, this from the third quarter Sunday:

Cam Heyward gets the double-team treatment right off the snap, by Baltimore linemen James Hurst (74) and Bradley Bozeman (77). But as the tight end, Hayden Hurst (81), chips off Bud to run a route, Bud begins rushing Robert Griffin III. As does T.J. in squirting by the big right tackle, Orlando Brown (78). It's as if RG3's world begins to collapse around him.

And who gets the spoils?

Cam does. Because Bozeman had to release him to go at Bud.

T.J. lit up when I revisited that, calling it "blood in the water." And Bud took it further: "All year long, T.J. and I were able to help each other, but we also created one-on-one matchups for Cam. All three of us played a big part in each other's progress this year. I really believe that."

I hadn't even cited that play yet. When I did, Bud observed with a grin, "Yeah, yeah, that's fun. All of us in the backfield at the same time, and Cam made a grown man's play there, huh?"

Sure did.

Equally sure, it needs to continue.

Kevin Colbert, Mike Tomlin and, in this case, Omar Khan need to figure it out. All three did well to draft Dupree and, ultimately, to develop him. Next comes the hard part.

• No, Bud didn't offer anything different yesterday than what he told me Sunday in Baltimore regarding his status: "I'm not even thinking about it. I'm leaving that to my agents."

I'll tell you this: He wants very much to stay.

• Much more on Bud's breakout in Chris Carter's new Classroom this morning.

• By the way, this was Watt on whether or not he should be DPOY, as if everyone needed yet another reason to love the guy: "I don't know. I'm not for self-advocating. I'm not going to come out here and say I should be this or that. I put everything I had into this season, and I would've loved to have made a lot more plays. The hardest part at the end of the season is to look back over all the plays you could've made, where you were so close. I just tried to do my best to help this team win games, and I think, individually and collectively, it wasn't enough."

• It's not a big deal that Ben Roethlisberger didn't address the media at the locker cleanout, nor that he hasn't done so since his elbow surgery. But, as I wrote from Baltimore, it probably would've been welcome by a lot of people, not least of which is the Nation as a whole. Just a few reassuring words.

• Good to see Devlin Hodges and Mason Rudolph pass through and hold their heads high. They should, each in his own way. As I broached with both, a lot of what happened to them happened far faster than anyone could've anticipated:

One final time: I'm not into this notion that quarterback insurance is needed, unless Roethlisberger's recovery comes into question. These two are just fine for No. 2 and No. 3, with Rudolph in an apprentice position.

• That season wasn't going to end well for the Steelers. Learn from it, be better for it and move forward.

• The beauty of the NFL's salary cap is never more evident than when all five of its franchises based in the New York, Los Angeles and Chicago markets miss the playoffs. Because it's fine when they make it, too, since that means they earned it by virtue of something more than local revenue streams and payroll. Just like the comparatively tiny markets of Green Bay, Buffalo, New Orleans and Kansas City did.

• The Browns are hilarious. Not that firing Freddie Kitchens wasn't the right move. He was visibly in way over his head. But the humor comes from firing every coach, every GM, every everything every year, and that on every press release announcing the firings, there's Jimmy Haslam's name attached to the statement. When the owner's that involved, and the losing's that incessant -- in a cap league, no less -- the issue's at the tippy-top.

• The Bengals are on the clock. Right after clocking the Browns.

• All-Star Jake Guentzel had a wonderful sound to it, didn't it?

For about ... what, a few minutes?

Not to play doctor with a premature diagnosis here, but that collision into the end boards last night looked "really scary," to borrow Mike Sullivan's apt description. And it'll be that much scarier to all concerned with the Penguins if it becomes yet another long-term injury to a list that's already historic in scope.

But hey, that's not going to stop me from giving the guy his due on this final day of 2019:  No local professional athlete other than Watt rose to the level of Guentzel this year. Not any of the stars. No one. These were No. 1 and No. 2.

And that's a testament not only to Guentzel's oft-lauded speed and skill, but also to his toughness.

He's only receiving recognition around the NHL that's been long overdue for a 40-goal scorer, though that's been common over the generations in Pittsburgh for any forwards flanking the resident superstars. This is two winters in a row he's scored at this rate, and that's to say nothing of his instant impact as a rookie on the 2017 Stanley Cup team and the outlandish run against the Flyers the following spring.

What I wish would get appreciated almost as much about Guentzel is his toughness. One evening in Winnipeg a year ago, Sullivan shared a phrase with me to describe exactly that trait for Guentzel, and it was perfect if not printable on a family site. But suffice it to say it described the coach having sent one of his smallest guys onto the ice to line up with a Patrik Laine shot off a last-minute faceoff, and further suffice it to say that the coach was suitably impressed with the magnitude of his, um, courage.

Guentzel's never changed. And he won't when he bounces back from this injury, either, even though it came on a relentless, arguably dangerous drive to the net for his 20th goal in his 39th game.

He's a special talent, with the snarl to match.

• If Guentzel's out, this'll bring the first real chance all season to see Alex Galchenyuk in a top-line role. Kind of a no-brainer, I'd think, with how well he's performed of late.

• Or maybe try Jared McCann, but only if he pledges on a stack of vulcanized rubber to shoot more often.

In his past four games, he's got no goals and seven shots. That's the pattern. In the 13 games all season in which he’s registered just three or more shots, he’s scored eight of his season’s 10 goals.

I shared that rather rudimentary data with him over the weekend in Nashville, and he seemed surprised.

"OK, so why am I not shooting more?" he responded with a laugh. "I guess I've just got to shoot it from everywhere, right?"

Not necessarily. But, as I reminded him, he's got a pretty good shot, especially when blistering the short side up the wing.

"Yeah, it's not always the right play to shoot," he continued. "I try not to overthink it too much. If I have a lane, I'm going to shoot. But if I'm shooting through shin pads all the time, they're going to get blocked, and that doesn't help anybody."

This isn't a criticism, mind you. He's got 10 goals, and 20 would make a healthy output. But even though Sullivan and the coaches love his all-around game, it still feels like there's more to be had.

• I've long respected that Evgeni Malkin embraces each chance to mix it up when he's getting poked and prodded the way the Senators did last night. And I'll respect that Malkin stated after this feisty 5-2 win, "I want to be out there the whole game."

Thing is, he shouldn't have been. Malkin had a shot at a hat trick, but only a marginal one since Ottawa hadn't pulled the goaltender. With all the mayhem that had already occurred, most of it aimed strategically at Malkin and Kris Letang, Sullivan had no business sending Malkin over the boards for the final minute, only to inevitably get involved in all kinds of ugliness.

Sullivan's running out of stars. Protect the ones still skating.

• Malkin in the 21 games since Crosby's been out: 9 goals, 25 assists, 76 shots, and the team's 15-5-3. And overall ...

... yeah, maybe he could've been an All-Star selection, too.

• Speaking of honors, there's no reason John Marino shouldn't be in serious consideration for the Calder Trophy. The NHL's top rookie scorer is the Sabres' Victor Olofsson with a modest 16 goals and 18 assists, and there's no other forward pushing him. The only other defenseman of note is the Avalanche's Cale Makar, but Marino's a plus-16 to Makar's plus-9 and, if that stat no longer means much to you, rest assured it means plenty to those doing the voting.

• I've got nothing on baseball this week. Sorry. I mean, the Pirates haven't done anything yet, Major League Baseball GMs and agents tend to go dark through the holidays, and there really isn't anything going on anywhere. Soon enough.

• Football's over. All that remains now is for more hockey players to get hurt.

• Happy New Year! I'd say healthy, too, but that's no longer fathomable after 2019!