Hart High alumnus Trenton Irwin is changing teams for the first time in his six-year NFL career, signing with the Carolina Panthers after being cut by the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Panthers announced last week that the 29-year-old was signed to the practice squad, though Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reported that he is likely to be quickly elevated to the 53-man roster. Irwin was not on the gameday roster for Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys.
“Mannn the end of a beautiful chapter,” Irwin wrote in a post on the social media site Instagram. “Met so many wonderful people in this beautiful city. Fought for what I stand for and learned to be me through it all for me. When people no longer see you the way you see yourself it’s a clear sign that it’s time to go. Excited to create my legacy elsewhere and keep chasing perfection like a shadow.”
A 2015 Hart graduate, Irwin went undrafted in 2019 after four years at Stanford University. He was signed by the Miami Dolphins shortly after that year’s NFL Draft but was released prior to the start of the season.
The Bengals signed Irwin during the 2019 season and promoted him to the active roster near the end of the year. He made his first NFL reception during the 2020 season and caught his first touchdown in a 2022 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
In 41 games for the Bengals, Irwin saw 72 targets and caught 46 of them for 601 yards, five of them for touchdowns. He also saw some time as a punt returner.
Not a stranger to being waived by the Bengals before being picked back up for the practice squad — last week marked the fourth time in five years the Bengals waived him — Irwin found sporadic playing time in Cincinnati this year, playing in seven games and recording three catches for 15 yards.
Irwin’s signing with the Panthers reunites him with offensive coordinator Brad Idzik, who was part of the Stanford coaching staff when Irwin was there.
Carolina is 3-11 after losing to the Cowboys on Sunday. The soonest Irwin can suit up in a game is this coming Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals, the final time the Panthers will be at home before closing out the season in Tampa Bay and Atlanta.
Irwin had 285 catches for 5,268 yards and 57 touchdowns at Hart, then known as the Indians, who went 36-16 during his four varsity seasons in Newhall. He helped Hart to a CIF Southern Section title in 2013, taking down Valencia, the Foothill League champions, in the final.
