Seahawks indeed get pass-rush help. And it’s an old friend: Bruce Irvin returning in deal
The second-tier of NFL free agency begins for the Seahawks with an old(er) friend.
As they continued to push to re-sign Jadeveon Clowney for their pass rusher, the Seahawks have agreed on a contract with edge rusher Bruce Irvin to bring their former first-round draft choice back to Seattle. The deal, likely for short term and minimum salary (or close to it) per Seahawks custom this time of year, was first reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport Wednesday afternoon.
The 32-year-old Irvin had a career-high 8 1/2 sacks in revival season last year for Carolina; Seattle’s team leader in 2019 was Rasheem Green, with four sacks. Irvin left the Seahawks for Oakland on a four-year, $37 million deal in free agency following the 2015 season. That was after he played in two Super Bowls for Seattle.
He also played for his hometown Atlanta Falcons for part of the 2018 season. He had 6 1/2 sacks for the Raiders and Falcons that year.
Irvin is all-caps ecstatic to be returning to the Seahawks.
He had 22 sacks in four years for the Seahawks to begin his career, after Seattle selected him two rounds ahead of Russell Wilson in the 2012 draft. Irvin was one of the most vocal players in the locker room immediately following Super Bowl 49 railing against the coaches’ and offense’s choice to have Russell Wilson throw from the 1-yard line instead of running Marshawn Lynch at the end of the game. New England’s Malcolm Butler intercepted Wilson’s pass, and Irvin and the Seahawks were denied a second consecutive NFL title.
Soon after that game, then-linebackers coach Ken Norton Jr. left Seattle to become Oakland’s defensive coordinator. A year later, Irvin re-joined Norton by signing with the Raiders.
Norton is now Seattle’s defensive coordinator.
He was Irvin’s position coach for his first three NFL seasons in Seattle. Norton’s belief in and endorsements of Irvin made the pass-rush specialist the 15th overall draft choice by the Seahawks in 2012, when most of the league saw Irvin as a one-trick player more worthy of the second or third rounds. Norton then turned Irvin into an every-down linebacker in his second and third seasons instead of merely a situational pass rusher—and then, a $37 million man.
Irvin’s return puts into doubt the futures of Mychal Kendricks and perhaps K.J. Wright, the Seahawks’ outside linebackers last season. Kendricks’ contract ended and he officially became a free agent Wednesday, following an injury-shortened 2019. He and Irvin play the same, strongside-linebacker spot in the 4-3 scheme Seattle uses.
Wright earned a second season of the two-year contract he signed before the 2019 season with his standout play last year, his return from a knee injury. He played weakside linebacker. The Seahawks drafted Cody Barton last year, and his natural position is weakside linebacker. But Barton finished last season at SAM, or strongside.
It’s conceivable Seattle keeps Wright at weakside and Barton at strongside in 2020, with Irvin getting a situational edge-rushing role on passing downs at this stage of his career. He turns 33 in November.
This story was originally published March 18, 2020 at 2:38 PM.
