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The Kansas City Chiefs made another signing on Friday evening (March 31) according to ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter.
“Free-agent safety Deon Bush has agreed to return to the Kansas City Chiefs on a one-year deal, per source,” Schefter informed.
Free-agent safety Deon Bush has agreed to return to the Kansas City Chiefs on a one-year deal, per source.
The KC Star’s Herbie Teope followed up: “Source confirms the Chiefs are bringing back S Deon Bush on a one-year deal. Bush played the second-most snaps (317) on special teams for the Chiefs during 2022 regular season. Signing has one of the Chiefs’ core special teams contributors back in the mix.”
Chiefs Bring Back Core Special Teamer & Safety Depth in Deon Bush Signing
This was an announcement that many within Chiefs Kingdom were waiting on. That’s not to say Bush is a star — or even someone that the casual fan would necessarily recognize — but re-signing him was an important move, nonetheless.
For starters, Kansas City lacked safety depth after losing Juan Thornhill in free agency. They did sign former Tampa Bay Buccaneers DB Mike Edwards, but Bush completes the room giving defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo four solid safeties to work with in 2023.
Bush’s greater impact will come on special teams, however. This is a guy that has made his career thriving on the most underrated unit in football — and ST coordinator Dave Toub will be very pleased to have the 16-game contributor (not counting postseason) back for his second campaign.
Per Pro Football Focus, no Chiefs player logged more special teams snaps than Bush in 2022 if you combine the regular season and the playoffs. He finished with 373 ST snaps in 19 total appearances, serving a role on every ST unit except field goal attempts.
Here was his snap breakdown according to PFF:
- 112 snaps on kick return coverage (tackler).
- 94 snaps on kick return (blocker).
- 76 snaps on punt return (blocker).
- 73 snaps on field goal block (rusher).
- 18 snaps on punt coverage (tackler/rusher).
Bush also registered 72 snaps on defense in 2022, earning a reliable 82.6 overall grade from PFF in limited action. His tackling was especially sound, with zero missed tackles and one key defensive stop (81.8 marks). He did not allow a reception on the year, but was only targeted once.
A former fourth-round draft pick of the Chicago Bears in 2016, Bush has already completed seven NFL seasons. He’ll embark on No. 8 as a Chief with a well-deserved Super Bowl ring on his finger.
Twitter Reactions After Deon Bush Re-Signs With Chiefs
Bush was welcomed back by Chiefs Kingdom on social media.
“Lets go! Great on special teams too,” one fan wrote. “Defending superbowl champion, Deon Bush,” another corrected in the comments.
“Good teams and safety depth. Glad he’s back,” a third fan replied.
Finally, a fourth fan recalled: “I remember when he first signed with us last year, it was the day we traded Tyreek [Hill] to Miami. He tried to greet Chiefs Kingdom on Twitter and the message got largely ignored but his response was hilarious!”
It was a pretty funny storyline in case you missed it. KC fans were notably unsettled after Hill was traded to the Dolphins, and the Bush signing occurred almost simultaneously.
Attempting to engage with his new fanbase, Bush tweeted out: “What’s up Chiefs Kingdom!” Let’s just say the message wasn’t very well-received due to the timing of it all.
Having said that, Bush quickly read the proverbial room and pivoted smoothly, following up: “My bad y’all, I’ll hit y’all back later.” The long-time NFL vet has fit in just fine ever since.
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Chiefs Come to Terms With 7-Year NFL Veteran: Report