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According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Steelers declined the fifth-year option on Devin Bush. The Steelers traded up from No. 20 to No. 10 overall in the 2019 NFL Draft to select Bush, who's been a disappointment through three years so far.
According to Bill Barnwell of ESPN, the second- and third-round picks that the Steelers traded to the Broncos to move up for Bush in 2019, amounted to more than the second overall pick when using the Football Perspective chart.
Bush would have made $10.892 million this season if the Steelers placed the fifth-year option on him, but he'll instead play on his expiring contract. Hopefully, this can be a wake up call for Bush, who had a tumultuous season in 2021 after coming off an ACL injury in 2020.
Bush was horrendous against the run last season and looked overmatched, displaying that his size is an issue. He didn't play with the speed that he's known for either, which could be attributed to the ACL injury. It's the second straight year that the Steelers denied the fifth-year option on a former first-round pick, as they did the same to Terrell Edmunds.
"I expect him to get better like I expect all our young players to get better," Mike Tomlin said of Bush when asked about his expectations at the NFL Owners Meetings in March. "It’s very reasonable to expect that in young player, particularly in his circumstance of being 12 months off his injury and putting that behind him. I’m excited about him getting back out there and having a clean bill of health throughout the team-building process and that not being a component of team development, his individual readiness."
In addition to Bush and Edmunds, the Steelers did not exercise the option on 2016 first-round pick Artie Burns and 2013 first-round pick Jarvis Jones. Overall, since the 2011 collective bargaining agreement when fifth-round options were implemented, the Steelers have picked up the option on five of their nine first-round picks. They picked up the option for Cam Heyward, David DeCastro, Ryan Shazier, Bud Dupree and T.J. Watt.