Jacksonville Jaguars have competition for Bruce Irvin
By Daniel Lago
The NFL’s “legal” tampering period for free agency began Monday at noon meaning teams were now free to talk and negotiate with players and their agents. Nobody can sign just yet, but we as fans can at least have an idea of which teams are interested in which players.
One player the Jacksonville Jaguars have unsurprisingly been linked to is Seattle Seahawks linebacker Bruce Irvin. The former first round pick thrived under Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley when he was the defensive coordinator of the Seahawks so a reunion makes all the sense in the world. We knew his other former defensive coordinator (Dan Quinn) would likely also try to recruit him to the Atlanta Falcons, but there is apparently another suitor – the Arizona Cardinals.
#Seahawks LB Bruce Irvin has clear interest from #Jaguars & #Falcons, with many connections. But keep an eye on #AZCardinals. They like him
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 7, 2016
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The Jaguars are in the best position of the crop interested in Irvin simply for the fact they have the most money to spend. The Jaguars can afford to overpay a guy like Bruce Irvin and live with the consequences. Both the Falcons and Cardinals aren’t exactly pushed up against the salary cap, but they just can’t compete with the Jaguars in terms of pure numbers.
The one thing a team like the Cardinals can advertise and the Jaguars currently can’t is a winning culture. Irvin will choose the Cardinals if he wants to compete for a Super Bowl right away, but money talks, and general manager David Caldwell showed the ability to lure premium free agents last offseason (Julius Thomas, Jared Odrick, etc.). My gut says Irvin will be a Jaguar very soon this week.