The Cleveland Browns lost a key contributor early in free agency. Watching Devin Bush take his talents to the Windy City was a big blow, but the Browns were never going to compete with that three-year, $30 million offer he got from the Chicago Bears.
The Bears gave Bush $21 million guaranteed and an $11 million signing bonus, according to Over the Cap. That's slightly more than Spotrac's projected annual value of $8.9 million, and the Bears may come to regret it pretty soon.
Bush had been a journeyman and considered a bust of a first-round pick before reviving his career with the Browns, and he's about to find out the hard way that the grass isn't always greener on the other side.
The warning signs that point to Bush regressing in Chicago
The Bears' defense gave up 134.5 rushing yards per game in 2025, the fifth-most in the league. They also gave up the fifth-most total yards per game (373.8), and had to resort to way too many late-game heroics and comebacks to get to the playoffs. As such, it makes sense that they were eager to overpay for some linebacker help.
That said, Bush's non-Browns career has been fairly disappointing. He arrived in Cleveland as an afterthought and a depth piece with some upside, and the Browns' string of injuries ultimately forced their hand, making him a starter last season.
All in all, he responded pretty well. In his two years in Cleveland, he made 33 appearances (17 starts, all last season), and combined for 201 tackles (108 solo), 15 tackles for loss, five QB hits, 4.0 sacks, 13 passes defensed, two forced fumbles, and two interceptions. Pro Football Focus gave him the fourth-highest grade among linebackers last season (87.6), and he finally lived up to the expectations as a former first-round selection.
That said, Bush was also a byproduct of Jim Schwartz's defensive system. The Browns were a linebacker machine in the Schwartz era, with Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah also turning the corner as a potential All-Pro guy, and Carson Schwesinger looking like the second coming of Luke Kuechly as a rookie.
Bush isn't going to have Myles Garrett and Mason Graham to lean on next season. He won't have a defensive quarterback like Schwesinger directing traffic, and Dennis Allen's job as a defensive play-caller left plenty to be desired in his first year in Chicago. Bush deserves credit for the hard work he put in, but he was also in the right place at the right time.
Dennis Allen likes his linebackers to be aggressive blitzers, which is something Bush seldom did under Schwartz's tutelage. While he looked solid in a small sample size, he might be exposed in Chicago.
This is, of course, not to say that Devin Bush isn't a good player or that he didn't deserve to get a long-term deal. But given the different schemes and personnel, it's just hard to believe he'll keep up his 2025-level production elsewhere.