Bruce Irvin going home — to Atlanta, not the Seahawks
Nov 7, 2018, 9:10 AM
Ex-Seahawks LB Bruce Irvin spent two-plus seasons with the Raiders as a defensive end. (AP)
(AP)
Bruce Irvin is going to back to where he started.
That’s not going to be where his NFL career started, however.
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Irvin, who is from Georgia, will play for Atlanta, his hometown franchise. The deal was first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter and later confirmed by the team. He is expected to play for the Falcons Sunday against Cleveland.
Irvin said that he could have been paid more money by going to Pittsburgh or by New England when he spoke to Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com. The Seahawks were thought to be a consideration for Irvin because he played four years for the Seahawks, who chose him in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft.
It wasn’t just that history, but the fact that Seattle hired Ken Norton to be the defensive coordinator last offseason. Norton coached the Seahawks’ linebackers when Irvin was in Seattle, and he served as the Raiders’ defensive coordinator when Irvin signed there as a free agent in 2016.
Seattle has 21 sacks through the first eight games, which ranks in the middle third of the league, so it could used Irvin’s pass-rushing ability. Frank Clark leads the team with 7.5 sacks and defensive tackle Jarran Reed has five sacks. Atlanta, meanwhile, has 17 sacks this season, tied for fifth-fewest in the league.
Irvin played the past two and a half seasons with the Raiders before he was waived after the Raiders’ Thursday night loss to San Francisco, a game in which Irvin played all of nine snaps.
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