3 Steelers players who won’t be back for the 2023 season

Steelers who won’t be back: Devin Bush

Pittsburgh elected not to pick up the fifth-year option on Devin Bush, which is why he’s on this list. The former first-round selection out of Michigan hasn’t looked the same since he tore his ACL, and thus the Steelers don’t have much use for him on the first-string defensive unit. Like I mentioned, the NFL can be ruthless.

The only way the Steelers bring Bush back would be on a far cheaper one-year prove it deal, which they ought to consider given his familiarity with the scheme. Bush has shown some level of improvement this season in Pittsburgh’s 3-4 scheme.

Pittsburgh has a tough call to make on Bush. On the one hand, he’s shown Pro Bowl potential prior to his debilitating injury. On the other, for the most part he hasn’t looked like that same player after said injury. So, which player is he?

It might help Bush’s case that the Steelers don’t seem to have an obvious replacement for him on the roster. Yet, the Michigan Man has looked timid and indecisive at times, and around this time last year, there was little question Bush had played his way out of Pittsburgh’s long-term plans.

It seems unlikely he’s done enough to chance the front office’s mind at the linebacker position, despite some moderate progress.