Browns do right by Devin Bush and re-sign LB to new deal

With the loss of Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah last season to a scary neck injury, there were several linebackers that stepped up in his absence. Devin Bush, Isaiah McGuire, and Winston Reid provided solid snaps to the Browns' defense to try and replicate the loss of Owusu-Koramoah, especially after he began the season so strong.

Now, the team has locked up one of those key linebackers in free agency, re-signing Bush to a one-year, $3.25 million deal. The former first round pick for the Pittsburgh Steelers was an understated part to Cleveland's defense last season, and now, he'll be able to become an even bigger part of it.

Devin Bush locked in for another year with Browns' defense

Cleveland is keying in on defense this offseason, re-signing Bush and signing pass rusher Joe Tryon-Shoyinka the first week of free agency. Bush is going to be contributing more to traditional linebacker depth, whereas Tryon-Shoyinka will be able to help Myles Garrett out with pass rushing duties this coming season.

Bush finished with an overall PFF grade of 79.2 amongst all eligible linebackers this past season, good for 16th out of 189. Yet, his name was not often mentioned as a potential loss to the Browns' defense since his impact wasn't necessarily stuffing the stat sheet. But, he was often one of the highest ranked linebackers after each week of NFL action.

With the official start to the NFL season underway, we wait to see if the Browns continue with the trend of signing fringe defenders in need of redemption arcs, like Tryon-Shoyinka, or if they look to take a big swing on a signing or trade this week to try and really shape out their roster. The messaging as of late, though, is that the team thinks they're good enough to compete in 2025.

With the recent extension of Garrett in addition to the fact that a few of their players on offense are already pretty great, like Jerry Jeudy, Cleveland's front office seems to feel that they just need some depth signings until they find a starting quarterback to truly get the party started for 2025.

While that is true - they need a starting quarterback, and it isn't Kenny Pickett - it'd be nice to see them going for another receiver or tight end to back up David Njoku and Jeudy this season. Cedric Tilllman showed flashes in 2024, but his concussion history might be a hinderance to his ability to get back to that level in 2025.