Christian Kirk won’t be launched in spite of everything. The Jaguars are transferring on from the veteran wideout however will accomplish that through commerce as an alternative.
Kirk is heading to the Texans, as first reported by Dianna Russini of The Athletic. Houston will ship Jacksonville a 2026 seventh-round decide, she adds. Kirk won’t hit the market consequently, and he’ll proceed his profession on a brand new AFC South staff.
One yr stays on the 28-year-old’s contract, an element which helped inform the Jags’ decision to move on. This swap will generate $10.44M in cap financial savings whereas incurring a useless cash cost of $13.65M. Kirk is owed a $15.5M wage for 2025, however he may work out a brand new deal upon arrival in Houston.
The Texans entered 2024 with excessive expectations on the receiver place. Nico Collins, Tank Dell and commerce acquisition Stefon Diggs figured to offer the staff one of many league’s prime WR trios. Diggs suffered an ACL tear halfway by means of the season and Dell later did the identical. The latter’s availability for 2025 is in query.
Diggs is a pending free agent, so the prospect of a departure on his half together with Dell’s harm standing made the Texans a staff to look at relating to a notable wideout addition. Earlier than the mix, it grew to become clear Houston can be open to re-signing Diggs, however this transfer more and more factors towards him not less than testing the market subsequent week. In any case, Kirk can be tasked with working as a powerful complementary choice to Collins in 2025.
After taking part in out his rookie contract with the Cardinals, Kirk inked a four-year pact to move to Jacksonville. The $18M AAV of that deal raised many eyebrows on the time, however the receiver market has since seen two main spikes because the NFL’s wage cap continues to develop quickly. Nonetheless, if the previous second-rounder goals to safe a increase together with his new staff, he might be hard-pressed in that effort.
Kirk logged a full season in 2022, however his Jaguars follow-up was restricted to solely 12 video games. This previous season, the Texas A&M product suffered a damaged collarbone, sidelining him after eight contests. That harm left him off the midseason commerce market, which was notable for the reason that Steelers reportedly reached settlement on a swap previous to the harm. Within the wake of the missed time, the Jags’ new regime will transfer in a unique path whereas seeking to construct a receiving corps round Trevor Lawrence.
That course of will little doubt lean closely on Offensive Rookie of the 12 months finalist Brian Thomas Jr., however WR can be a place to look at for Jacksonville this offseason. Plenty of high-profile wideouts are on observe to achieve the market, together with some veterans (Davante Adams, Tyler Lockett) who’ve just lately been lower. Kirk won’t be on that listing, as his 2025 scenario has already been decided.
