The 2023 season turned out to be Pete Carroll's Waterloo with the Seattle Seahawks. He needed his defense to be good again, as, after all, Carroll was a defensive-minded head coach who needed to show he could improve his specialty. He couldn't.
After the season, Seattle relieved Carroll from his role as coach and Vice President of Football Operations. The team needed a change, and Carroll and many others were part of that. That included free agent bust linebacker Devin Bush.
Bush had signed a one-year prove-it deal with the Seahawks in the 2023 offseason. He had had one very good season with the team that drafted him, the Pittsburgh Steelers, but Pittsburgh decided he wasn't worth re-signing after his rookie deal was done. This was a precipitous fall for the 2019 first-round draft pick.
Former Seattle Seahawks bust Devin Bush playing well with his new team
Carroll, who had final say over all roster decisions when he was with the Seahawks, thought Bush could help make the run defense better, but the inside linebacker couldn't. Instead, Bush was lousy against the run and a classless player, too.
Against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 18, quarterback Kyler Murray scrambled and began to slide down. Bush was near him and decided not to try to tackle Murray until the quarterback was sliding. Bush then hit the QB near his head, and Murray was clearly temporarily hurt by the cheap shot. Bush celebrated until fellow linebacker Bobby Wagner grabbed him and screamed at him.
Seattle unsurprisingly chose not to sign Bush after his one season with the team. The linebacker was seemingly close to being done in the NFL, as he had washed out with two different teams. He wasn't.
Instead, Bush signed with the Cleveland Browns and has shockingly been really good for a season-plus. The Browns are terrible, but not Bush.
In 2024, Devin Bush had a career-high 10 quarterback pressures, a good number for an off-ball LB, and received an elite grade in run defense from Pro Football Focus (subscription required). He has started even better in 2025.
Through two games, he has two QB pressures, including a sack, two passes defended, and while he has allowed two of his three pass targets to be completed, the completions have only led to six yards. If he had only played so well for the Seattle Seahawks, 12s might still be rooting for Bush.
Or maybe not. That classless move against the Cardinals isn't something Seattle needs. He might be playing well, but let's hope he is a better human being, too.