Former Lions DL Bruce Irvin finds new home with AFC playoff team

Less than a week after the Detroit Lions released him from the practice squad Bruce Irvin has signed to the Miami Dolphins’ 53-man roster.

Last week, the Detroit Lions suddenly parted ways with veteran edge defender Bruce Irvin, cutting him from the practice squad. Now the 36-year-old defender has found a new home, signing to the Miami Dolphins’ 53-man roster for their playoff run.

Irvin’s departure from was described as a mutual parting, but it was a bit of a surprise. While Irvin wasn’t spectacular on the field, he was a valuable mentor to a lot of young players in that locker room, even though he was only with the team for less than two months.

“He’s been a blessing to have him around here. I mean, he just brings a whole different perspective. He’s as professional as you get, just the way he goes about his business, everything about him,” coach Dan Campbell said last week. “And we talked last week, talked again yesterday, had a long talk and so just at this moment, it just – couldn’t totally commit and he’s got stuff going on too. And so, it’s hard. I mean, it’s just one of those, at this point it just wasn’t going to work out.”

At the time, it seemed like the move was made in preparation for James Houston to come back. But while the second-year defender returned to practice two weeks ago, Campbell didn’t sound optimistic about his chances of playing in this week’s Wild Card game.

“Houston will be out there practicing, and we’ll see,” Campbell said Monday. “He’ll be better than he was last week. Now how much is that? How good is that going to be? I don’t know. So, I don’t feel like – I’m not as optimistic about him.”

Regardless, the Dolphins have suffered a ton of injuries to the defense over this season (Bradley Chubb, Jaelan Phillips, Andrew Van Ginkel, Jerome Baker and Cameron Goode), so this is likely a much better opportunity for Irvin anyway. We wish him the best.