Pass rusher Bruce Irvin, former Dan Quinn disciple, goes unclaimed on waivers

The Oakland Raiders made a surprising and confusing move this weekend, probably to go along with their long line of surprising and confusing moves since hiring Jon Gruden, and released pass rusher Bruce Irvin.

Adam Schefter broke the news.

The Falcons were rumored to be interested in Irvin when he became a free agent before the Oakland Raiders broke the bank and signed him to a $37 million, four-year deal. The deal looks more reasonable today but Irvin was never a dominant pass rusher. His career shows he’s pretty consistently putting up 7 or 8 sacks, but isn’t a threat to do much more.

The Raiders are on the hook for Irvin’s salary this year unless he was claimed on waivers. His high base salary was obviously too much for other teams, as all remaining 31 teams passed on paying him about $3.5 million for eight games.

Irvin would probably need a few weeks to be moved into a defense, making him very costly on a per-game basis. He additionally had a high base salary in 2019. While the move to cut him doesn’t make much sense, it’s no surprise to see him pass through on waivers.

Will Dan Quinn make a move for his former defensive player? He hasn’t shown much interest in former Seahawks before, but Irvin still has some juice left.

The Falcons went from looking at top 5 draft picks to pushing into the playoffs. A pass rusher that can tally up 3-4 sacks through the playoff push would be huge, especially if they can give Vic Beasley a little motivation to turn the gas back on.

What are the odds Irvin comes to Atlanta? I’ll say not bad if he wants to take a deal near veteran minimum with the hopes of cashing out in free agency. We know he isn’t breaking the bank midway through the season. He obviously is familiar with Quinn’s scheme and can give the defense better depth and versatility.

Sorry, Steven Means, but Irvin can help this team today. Expect to hear something about Irvin as early as tomorrow late morning, if not tonight.