Lions use Bruce Irvin's final elevation, now have decisions to make

Lions fans have really been wanting to see more of Bruce Irvin since the team signed him in November. He's made two appearances and in those two appearance's, he made a difference. Irvin logged four pressures, two hurries, a hit and a sack in 24 snaps. You can see why fans want more. 

Irvin has been elevated and will be active against the Cowboys on Saturday night. Here's the thing though, that makes three elevations for Irvin. The Lions cannot elevate him again during the regular or post season. This leaves them with two choices. 

The first seems simple, but it's not. The first is to sign him to the active roster. The problem with that is the Lions soon have to make room for C.J. Gardner-Johnson, James Houston and Alim McNeill. There's going to be some hard choices as it is. Adding a fourth player to that list is only going to make it harder. 

The other option is a risky one. The Lions would have to waive Irvin, hope he clears waivers and then sign him back to the team. Per the NFL's collective bargaining agreement, that will reset his elevations and then the Lions can bring him up another three times during the postseason. 

That's a lot. If Irvin balls out on Saturday and shows that the Lions absolutely need him for the playoffs, some very hard decisions are going to have to be made either way they go. It would seem, the best move they could do would be to find a spot for him on the active roster and hope that they can hold onto whoever they  waive to make that space. 

We'll see where things go from here.