The linebacker room that had no business being left the way it was has its answer.
The Bears have agreed to terms with free agent linebacker Devin Bush on a three-year, $30 million deal that includes $21 million guaranteed, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter, who cited Bush's agent Drew Rosenhaus. The deal becomes official when the new league year opens Wednesday, March 11. Bush, 27, comes off the best season of his career in Cleveland and steps directly into a starting role in Chicago — the fourth defensive addition the Bears have made on the first day of the 2026 negotiating period, and the largest contract of the group.
The Long Road Back
Bush was once one of the most coveted linebackers in the country. Pittsburgh traded up in the 2019 draft — sending two picks in 2019 and one in 2020 to Denver — to land him with the 10th overall selection out of Michigan, where he had been named the Big Ten's defensive player of the year. As a rookie with the Steelers, he led all NFL rookies in tackles with 109, earned a spot on the PFWA All-Rookie Team, and looked like exactly the kind of sideline-to-sideline linebacker the position is built around. The expectations were enormous.
Then he tore his ACL in Week 6 of his sophomore season and never quite got back to that level in Pittsburgh. His fifth-year option was declined. He left as a free agent in 2023 and signed a one-year deal with the Seahawks — 13 games, 37 tackles, a low-profile year. Then another one-year deal with the Browns in 2024 for $3.25 million. The kind of contract a former first-rounder signs when the league has moved on from what he was supposed to be.
Except Bush hadn't moved on. He kept building.
What He Did in 2025
Bush started all 17 regular-season games for Cleveland and finished with 125 tackles — a career high — along with two sacks, three interceptions, eight passes defended, and two forced fumbles. Two of those interceptions went back for touchdowns. Pro Football Network's LB Impact Score ranked him 12th among all linebackers at 86.8. The Browns made him a team captain.
The signature moment came in Week 18. With the Bengals threatening to take a two-score lead, Bush intercepted a Joe Burrow pass off a deflection and took it 97 yards untouched for a touchdown in a 20-18 Cleveland win. He finished that game with 14 tackles. The AFC named him its Defensive Player of the Week. It was only the second time in his career he'd reached 100 tackles in a season — the first being his rookie year, seven years earlier.
What the Bears Are Getting
Bush is an athletic linebacker at his best in coverage and as a second-level playmaker. The 2025 season confirmed something that had been glimpsed in pieces throughout his career: when healthy, at full speed, and trusted as a starter, he has the range and instincts to affect games in multiple ways. The pick-sixes aren't flukes — he has the coverage ability to be in those positions, and the speed to make something happen when the ball finds him.
He also brings NFL bloodlines to Chicago. His father, Devin Bush Sr., played in the NFL and won a Super Bowl with the St. Louis Rams. The younger Bush grew up around professional football, was coached by his father in high school, and has the kind of football background that tends to produce players who understand the game beyond their physical tools. At 27 and entering what should be the peak years of his career, the Bears are betting the 2025 season wasn't a one-year outlier.
The Linebacker Room Now
The Bears released Tremaine Edmunds earlier this month, freeing $15 million in cap space but stripping the room down to almost nothing. T.J. Edwards fractured his fibula in the Wild Card win over Green Bay — his status heading into the start of the 2026 season remains uncertain. D'Marco Jackson was re-signed earlier today on a two-year deal and projects as the LB3 in base formations. Bush slots in immediately as a starter.
If Edwards is healthy by September, Chicago has a legitimate starting tandem in Bush and Edwards with Jackson as the next man up. If Edwards misses time to start the year, Bush carries the room with Jackson beside him. Either way, the Bears have gone from having no credible linebacker under contract a week ago to having a real starting piece locked in for three years. That's a significant swing, and it happened quickly.
What It Means for the Offseason
Linebacker is no longer the loudest problem on this roster. Edge rusher remains the biggest unresolved question — Montez Sweat needs a legitimate pass-rush partner, and the Bears haven't addressed that yet. The offensive line still needs additions. But the defensive infrastructure is taking shape fast. Gallimore, Bryant, Jackson, and now Bush — four defensive signings in one day, all addressing real needs, none of them frivolous.
Ryan Poles is spending, and he's spending on players who've earned it. Bush didn't come to Chicago on reputation. He came on what he did last year, at 27, when the league had mostly stopped expecting anything from him. That's the version the Bears are paying for — and at $10 million a year, it's a reasonable bet that they got him.