Gregg Bell

The News Tribune

Bruce Irvin is going home.

And his home is Atlanta, not Seattle.

The new free agent linebacker and former Seahawks Super Bowl starter announced Wednesday morning he was signing with his hometown Atlanta Falcons for the rest of this season.

The Falcons confirmed they had a contract agreement with Irvin.

The Steelers and Patriots reportedly offered Irvin more money.

The Seahawks offered Irvin’s father figure, defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. He was Irvin’s position coach from when Seattle drafted him in the first round in 2012 until he signed a $27.7 million contract with the Oakland Raiders following the 2015 season.

The Raiders waived him on Monday as part of its house-cleaning in a dismal season. He cleared waivers Tuesday and was then free to sign with any team.

The Falcons also have coach Dan Quinn. He was Irvin’s defensive coordinator with the Seahawks in 2013 and ‘14 who along with Norton and coach Pete Carroll made Irvin an every-down linebacker and eventually a rich free agent. Those were the seasons Seattle went to consecutive Super Bowls, with Irvin winning a championship with the Seahawks in January 2014.

Maximizing his chances to win a second ring wasn’t the primary motivation for Irvin this week. If it was he’d have signed with the Patriots.

The Falcons and Seahawks are 4-4, two games behind Carolina (6-2) and 1 1/2 games behind Minnesota (5-3-1) in the race for the conference’s wild-card playoff berths. New England is 7-2 and cruising to another title in the AFC East and top playoff seed.