Due to the unfortunate season-ending ACL injury to Dante Fowler Jr., could the Jacksonville Jaguars go after disgruntled Seattle Seahawks pass-rusher Bruce Irvin.
Fowler Jr., the third overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, went down in a heap on his first day of rookie minicamp. And with it, Jacksonville’s hopes of seeing the former Florida Gator bolster their pass rush.
While Jacksonville still has talent on defense in the form of Tyson Alualu, Jared Odrick, Sen’Derrick Marks, Chris Clemons and Paul Posluszy, the loss of a potentially talented playmaker such as Fowler Jr. will be one to overcome.
In a division that features Brian Hoyer in Houston, Marcus Mariota in Tennessee and Andrew Luck in Indianapolis, Jacksonville needs someone who can get after the quarterback and make big plays.
Enter Bruce Irvin.
With the recent decision by the Super Bowl runner-up Seattle Seahawks to not renew his 2016 option, and pre-draft rumors of Seattle trading the former West Virginia pass-rusher to Atlanta never coming to fruition, Irvin would be able to give the Jags an experienced—and still young—edge-rusher to offset the loss of Fowler Jr.
If his recent comments on social media are any indication, then a messy divorce is on the horizon for both Irvin and the Seahawks.
Couple these factors in, along with Seattle’s drafting of former Michigan linebacker Frank Clark, and the likelihood that a majority of Seattle’s available cap space will be use to lock up quarterback Russell Wilson long-term, could make Irvin available at a discount.
Two other factors that work in Jacksonville’s favor is that former defensive coordinator Gus Bradley is the current head coach of the Jags and former teammate in Clemons playing in the same defense that he currently plays in the Emerald City, and you have the makings of an interesting off-season storyline.
While some may consider such a move a reach, with Fowler Jr. still on the roster, such a hypothetical move would be for both the short-term and long-term with both on the field, thus giving Jacksonville one of the most feared edge-rushing duos on the entire league.
Visions of a fully-healed Fowler Jr. and Irvin in 2016 = NFL quarterback nightmare, is the main reason Jacksonville should consider such a move.
The question is, would both Jacksonville and Seattle be willing to pull the trigger.