The Seahawks didn’t pick up the option on LB Bruce Irvin final contract year. / Drew Sellers, Sportspress Northwest

The Seahawks apparently have declined their contract option on OLB Bruce Irvin’s fifth year, meaning he’ll play out this season and be eligible for free agency — unless he and the Seahawks negotiate a contract extension at less than the $7.8 million he was owed.

Given the pressure that the final year would have put on the Seahawks salary cap, the decision, due by midnight Sunday that the Seahawks have not announced, was no surprise. That didn’t mean Irvin, who will play this year at $1.7 million, was happy about it.

In a series of tweets late Sunday night, some profane, Irvin vented:

Worked for everything I got in my life this shit will b no different! I earns my keeps!

— Bruce Irvin (@BIrvin_WVU11) May 4, 2015

Before the draft, Irvin was the object of trade rumors regarding Atlanta, where his former defensive coordinator in Seattle, Dan Quinn, is now head coach. But nothing came of it. And coach Pete Carroll insisted Saturday after the draft concluded that the Seahawks want to re-sign Irvin.

“We met with Bruce (Friday) and it went very well,” Carroll said. “We discussed what our plan is and what we are planning on doing. It has nothing to do with the statement of how we feel about him in our program. We expect him to be here for a long time and we will work to get that done.”

The reality is that the Seahawks have already extended OLB K.J. Wright, and are working on an extension for MLB Bobby Wagner. To invest big money in a third linebacker creates a lopsided position on the defense’s payroll.

The same situation came up a year ago for LG James Carpenter, when his option was declined. The Seahawks claimed to want him, but he signed in free agency a four-year, $20 million deal with the New York Jets that he would never have received from Seattle.

While there are no certainties, that is a likely scenario for Irvin. He has always been honest with his feelings, and in another tweet, mentioned that he will instruct his son, Brayden, to be the same way.

Im a very blunt person and that won’t ever change sorry if u dislike it. Gonna teach bray to b the same way!

— Bruce Irvin (@BIrvin_WVU11) May 4, 2015

He also tweeted: “I am a Seahawk!”