Devin Bush Latest First-Rounder To Have Fifth-Year Option Declined By Pittsburgh Steelers

It’s probably not fair to call Devin Bush a first-round bust for the Pittsburgh Steelers after two full seasons and a third of another.

However, it was telling Monday that the Steelers declined the fifth-year option on the inside linebacker’s rookie contract. Bush can become a free agent after next season rather than following the 2023 season.

And that must be disappointing for retiring general manager Kevin Colbert, coach Mike Tomlin and the rest of the Steelers’ brain trust. The Steelers traded up in the first round – something they have rarely done over the years – to select Bush with the 10^th overall pick after he starred at Michigan.

Making it even more disappointing is Bush is the third first-round draft pick in four years who the Steelers did not exercise the fifth-year option.

Cornerback Artie Burns, the first-round pick in 2016, left to the Chicago Bears in free agency following the 2019 season after a disappointing four-year run with the Steelers.

The Steelers also declined the option on safety Terrell Edmunds, their top pick in 2018, last spring. However, Edmunds found tepid interest in the open market this spring and returned to Pittsburgh on a cut-rate one-year, $2,537,000 contract last month.

Bush has never been the same player since tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in a game against the Cleveland Browns in Week 6 of the 2020 season.

Bush came back in time to start in Week 1 last season. However, his defensive snap percentage fell to 79 after it was at 90 in 2020 before the injury.

Starting all 14 games that he played in 2021, Bush had 70 tackles, two tackles for loss and two sacks. By comparison, in 16 games as a rookie in 2019, he made 109 tackles, including nine behind the line of scrimmage and two sacks.

Bush finished third in the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year voting behind defensive ends Nick Bosa of the San Francisco 49ers and Maxx Cosby of the Oakland Raiders.

Pro Football Focus gave Bush a 62.9 grade as a rookie, putting him 35^th among NFL linebackers. He got a 59.7 in 2020 and just a 34.9 last season, which was 82^nd among 87 qualifying players at the position.