Raiders would release the highest paid defensive player, Bruce Irvin, after his role was reduced in 2018

Raiders will release pbad rusher Bruce Irvin, reports Vic Tafur of The Athletic. That decision comes two days after Irvin played just nine catches in Oakland's 34-3 defeat against the 49ers, a team that was forced to get rid of Nick Mullens in the quarterback. Because Irvin was not on the wire of the NFL on Saturday, he can not be officially released before Monday at 4 pm, reports Adam Schefter of ESPN.

Mullens, who spent the 2017 season in the 49ers' training squad, was not sacked in the match and completed 262 pbading yards, three touchdowns, no setbacks and one score 151.9.

After the game, the freshman, Jon Gruden explained his decision to keep Irvin on the sidelines for most of the match.

"We are now a 4-3 team, so in base defense, it sometimes does not fit the role we have to play," he said, according to Scott Bair of NBC Sports Bay Area. "This is a high-tech forward, and we have not had a lot of head … His role has been reduced … I know he's frustrated … I'm frustrated …." .. he's a good player. "

But not enough to stay in a 1-7 team that plays for a draft position and not much else.

In eight games, Irvin had six tackles, three sacks and a forced fumble. In a way, the Raiders have seven bags in total for the season and the man responsible for 43% of those bags has been dropped. This evolution comes after Gruden spent the first weeks of the season lamenting the lack of a hasty pbad.

"We have to do something [about the pbad rush], we have to do something, "he said after the defeat against the Broncos in the second week of the team. We must get there. We must win face-to-face, perhaps call other blitzes. We must find something. We will."

And a week later, Gruden said, "It's hard to find a good [pbad rusher]. It's hard to find a good one. It's hard to find one. "

This is especially true when you trade your best Khalil Mack pbad to the Bears before the season and cut off your next best hoe eight weeks later. Rookie Maurice Hurst is the only remaining Raiders player with multiple sacks (he has two).

As Sean Wagner-McGough of CBSSports.com wrote Friday, Irvin's $ 8.25-million salary ranks fourth in the team behind quarterback Derek Carr ($ 25 million) and guards Kelechi Osemele and Gabe Jackson (both at $ 10.5 million, according to Spotrac).