The Bears Landed One of the NFL's Biggest Steals on Day One of Free Agency

The Bears' decision to sign Devin Bush to a three-year, $30 million deal was definitely Chicago's most shrewd acquisition on day one of free agency. In fact, it might've been one of the best moves any team made through free agency's first wave.

Bush's average annual value of $10 million may look like a lot on paper (to us working folk, at least), but it's actually a modest figure for NFL standards. The deal is tied for 19th among linebackers (notably, with his new teammate, T.J. Edwards).

Bush is coming off the best season of his career with the Browns, and they were reportedly trying to re-sign the 27-year-old. Instead, he'll join the Bears, where he'll attempt to build on his breakout 2025 season.

Just how good was Bush in 2025?

He was downright dominant. The 27-year-old was one of only three linebackers (and five players) with at least 100 tackles (he had 125) and three interceptions. He added two sacks, two interceptions, and eight pass deflections. The performance was good enough to earn him the fourth-highest grade from Pro Football Focus (87.6).

Despite his breakout season, Bush's contract somehow ranked fifth among linebackers that put pen to paper this offseason. The question that bears asking is, why didn't he have a more competitive market?

Well, Bush was largely considered a first-round disappointment before last season. The Steelers had extremely high expectations for Bush after they picked him with the tenth pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. He somehow managed to exceed them as a rookie, finishing the year as a Defensive Rookie of the Year finalist. The University of Michigan product stuffed the stat sheets with 109 tackles, two interceptions, four fumble recoveries, and a sack. However, he failed to build on the impressive performance, as a torn ACL limited him to only five games in his sophomore campaign.

He showed flashes throughout his career, but never came close to the numbers that he put up as a rookie. It seemed like he was chasing a ghost that he was never going to reach. Then 2025 happened.

Some might be betting against Bush, and think that he won't be able to build upon his breakout season. I struggle to understand why that's the case. He was a linebacker who was talented enough to be selected with the 10th overall pick. He's one of only four linebackers to get picked in the top 10 since 2013.

Remember when I mentioned that Bush signed the fifth-most lucrative deal among free agents? Former Bears Tremaine Edmunds, whom the team cut ties with last week to save $15 million, is making $2 million more per year. He signed a three-year, $36 million deal with the Giants. I honestly can't make sense of the discrepancy.

Edmunds is coming off his best year in Chicago, but he was still a complete non-factor far too often last season (especially after returning from his late-season groin injury). He was caught out of position early and often, and was PFF's 34th-ranked linebacker (66.4 grade) as a result. Remember, Bush was ranked fourth.

Now, you might be saying, "Well, Edmunds was better every other year." Sure. He was better. He wasn't markedly better, though. He never lived up to the four-year, $72 million deal the Bears signed him to in 2023. He never played like the six-foot-four, 250 lb. physical specimen that he could've been.

Speaking of physical specimens, Bush's 4.43-second 40-yard dash at the 2019 NFL Scouting Combine ranks seventh all-time among linebackers. His 1.5-second 10-yard split is tied for second. His game is predicated on pure speed and explosion. Edmunds wasn't exactly a liability when it came to speed, but he also isn't really in the same ballpark as Bush.

Ryan Poles and Ben Johnson both preached about improving their speed on the defensive side of the ball. They certainly accomplished that with this signing.

His speed is most evident in coverage, where he earned a PFF coverage grade of 80.4 (good for fourth among 'backers). His .49 yards allowed per coverage snap also ranked second among 'backers.

Devin Bush allowed 0.49 yards per coverage snap in 2025, the 2nd-fewest of any linebacker (min. 250).

Bush limited opponents to -0.73 EPA per target, the fewest of any NFL defender targeted 25+ times.

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— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) March 9, 2026

If you can't tell, I'm beyond thrilled with the addition. I included him on my free agency wish list last week, and that was before I knew he'd be as cheap as he was.

I fully expect this move to pay immediate dividends for Chicago. I think we'll be looking back at this move in a few years and wonder how they were able to pull it off.