The NFL officially informed teams what the 2022 salary cap will be on Monday. It also gave them the official numbers on fifth-year options for the 2019 draft class.
For linebacker Devin Bush, that cost is $10.892 million if the Steelers were to pick up his option for the 2023 season. And per the rules of the new CBA agreed to last offseason, that money would be fully guaranteed at the time the option is picked up.
According to a source, while the Steelers haven't made a determination on what they will do -- they don't have to make a decision official until May 3 -- the team is unlikely to tie that much money up in Bush, the 10th pick in the 2018 draft.
The Steelers traded their first and second-round picks in 2019, the 20th and 52nd overall picks, and a 2020 third-round selection to move up and select Bush. The results have been uneven.
He appeared in 16 games, making 15 starts, as a rookie in 2019 after the Steelers moved up from the 20th pick in the draft to 10 to select him. He finished that season with 109 tackles, two interceptions, a sack and four fumble recoveries.
He was off to a strong start in 2020, recording 26 tackles and one sack before suffering a torn ACL at the end of the first half in a Week 5 win over the Browns.
Bush returned in 2021 and struggled. In 14 games, he recorded 70 tackles, two sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery, but often was slow to react and had issues getting off blocks.
"I know Devin can play better because he has played better albeit when he was younger and healthier and it’s not usual for someone coming off an ACL to not be 100 percent right away and we’re hoping that he can come back and have a better 2022," GM Kevin Colbert said recently.
Bush is due to earn a salary of $3.068 million with a cap hit of just over $6 million in 2022.
If the Steelers do not pick up his option, it would make back-to-back first-round picks on which. the Steelers have not picked up the fifth-year option. They also did not do so for safety Terrell Edmunds last year under the new rules.
Those new rules, agreed to as part of the CBA negotiations last year, also make it less likely that teams will pick up fifth-year options due to the cost increase and the fact those contracts are fully guaranteed.
While players chosen in the first round beyond the top-10 picks used to be slotted at a descending cost, the new CBA determined that the fifth-year option cost all players taken in the first round would be the transition tag number for their respective position. The transition tag number is the average salary of the top-10 highest-paid players at
It's also a greater cost if the player has done things such as made the Pro Bowl or been an All-Pro player in their first three seasons.
Teams previously also had the opportunity to change their mind after picking up the guarantee. They could still withdraw their offer under the previous rules. The new CBA made the fifth-year option fully guaranteed, meaning teams are essentially guaranteeing the final two years of the deal when the option is picked up.
Even if the Steelers do not pick up the fifth-year option on Bush, they could still offer him a long-term deal if he rebounds in 2022.