The Jacksonville Jaguars are trading wide receiver Christian Kirk with the Houston Texans for their seventh pick of 2026, sources told ESPN’s Adam Shefater on Thursday.
Sources told Shefater on Wednesday that Jaguar is set to release Kirk when the new league year begins next Wednesday. But instead they found a trading partner within their own sector.
The seventh pick headed to Jacksonville originally belonged to the Los Angeles Rams, sources told Shefater.
Jaguars teammate Josh Hein Allen was shocked when he responded to trade on social media.
The defensive posted on X, “Kirk to Houston is not the real thing.”
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Texas head coach DeMeco Ryan foreshadowed adding players to receiver positions during the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis, calling them the “area of emphasis.” To finish the 2024 playoff run, the Texans were only available in No. 1 wideout Nico Collins as wideout Stefond Diggs and Tank Dell were missing after both suffered serious knee injuries during the regular season.
“We don’t have STEFs, we don’t have tanks, it hurt us all in one go. We need those playmakers, especially in wide receiver positions,” Ryan said. “It increases your ability to move football onto the field and score points.”
Diggs is a free agent, and Dell’s availability for the 2025 season is a problem. His injuries came as he happened to the Kansas City Chiefs later in the 16th week of the season. Dell had his second surgery Wednesday to repair a torn ACL after undergoing surgery to repair other torn ligaments.
Enrolled in the final year of his four-year contract, Kirk was set to make Jaguar’s highest cap number in 2025 at $24.4 million. He is expected to pay $15.5 million in 2025.
Kirk signed a four-year, $72 million contract in 2022, setting a career-high on catch (84), yards for that season (1,108) and received a touchdown reception (8).
However, he made 14 appearances over the last two seasons due to an abdominal injury and a broken collarbone, finishing with 84 catches and 4 TDs in 20 games on that stretch.
The 28-year-old Kirk spent the first four seasons of his career with the Arizona Cardinals, who chose him in the second round of the 2018 draft, catching 236 passes for 2,902 yards and 17 touchdowns.
ESPN’s DJ Bien-Aime and Michael Dirocco contributed to this report.
