Pittsburgh Steelers inside linebacker Devin Bush has a free-agent visit scheduled with the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday, according to a report by Adam Schefter of ESPN.
Bush is an unrestricted free agent after the Steelers declined the fifth-year option on his rookie contract. He is one of the top names still available at what had been a deep linebacker class.
Bush, 24, was the Steelers’ first-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, when the team traded up to select him out of Michigan with the No. 10 overall selection.
He never lived up to the billing of that draft pick in four seasons in Pittsburgh. Bush started 15 games in a promising rookie season in 2019, but he never recovered his form after an ACL injury caused him to miss most of the 2020 season.
Bush returned to the starting lineup in 2021, but saw his playing time and productivity drop. Bush was placed into a training camp battle with Robert Spillane to keep his starting job in 2022, and he nominally won it, as Bush started 14 of 17 games for the Steelers last season, but he ceded playing time to Spillane and Myles Jack as the season went on. Bush played just 10 total snaps over the Steelers’ final two games of 2022.
The Steelers have brought back other players after declining their fifth-year option, including 2018 first-round pick, strong safety Terrell Edmunds. But their previous decision to cut him loose, his lack of playing time down the stretch, and the Steelers making a move to bring in former Washington Commanders linebacker Cole Holcomb on Wednesday makes a reunion between Bush and the Steelers unlikely.
Bush seemed to come to that conclusion before the season even started, saying he wasn’t sweating the idea of playing out his contract year in Pittsburgh, and was confident that he’d end up in the league somewhere if the Steelers didn’t want him.
“It’s the business,” https://steelersnow.com/devin-bush-not-feeling-pressure-of-contract-year-with-steelers/“>Bush said. “I mean, I’m gonna still be in the NFL. So, we’ll see.”
The other remaining linebackers on our free agent big board are Bobby Wagner (L.A. Rams), Drue Tranquill (L.A. Chargers), Denzel Perryman (Las Vegas Raiders), Rashaan Evans (Tennessee Titans), Anthony Walker Jr. (Cleveland Browns) and Nicholas Morrow (Chicago Bears).