Consider Jacksonville Jaguars star Josh Hines-Allen shocked.
Hines-Allen has seen a lot of teammates traded since being drafted in 2019, ranging from Jalen Ramsey to A.J. Bouye to Calais Campbell to Yannick Ngakoue and several others.
But Hines-Allen was still clearly surprised by the Jaguars’ most recent trade, with Jacksonville trading veteran wide receiver Christian Kirk to a bitter AFC South rival in the Houston Texans for a 2026 seventh-round pick.
“Kirk to Houston can’t be real,” Hines-Allen said on social media after the trade.
It is an understandable reaction from Hines-Allen, who has served as one of the key leaders on Jacksonville’s defense for the last several seasons. Kirk was amongst the top leaders on the offensive side of the ball, and each carried a lot of responsibility on and off the field.
Kirk was a huge addition to the Jaguars roster in 2022, a year that saw the Jaguars make the playoffs and win the AFC South in new head coach Doug Pederson’s first year. Amongst the new faces that joined Pederson, Kirk was one of the most important.
In 17 games in 2022, Kirk caught 84 passes for 1,108 yards and eight touchdowns. He also caught two touchdowns in two playoff games.
Kirk played 12 games in 2023, catching 57 passes for 787 yards and three touchdowns before missing the final five games due to injury.
Kirk appeared in the first eight games in 2024, catching 27 passes for 379 yards and one touchdown before a season-ending injury vs. the Green Bay Packers forced him to miss the final nine games.
In three years with the Jaguars, Kirk played in 37 games and caught 168 catches for 2,274 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Now, Hines-Allen and the rest of the Jaguars roster are set to face off against their former teammate twice in 2025 and perhaps even beyond.
Kirk and the Jaguars had plenty of big moments together, but he is now a Texan. That will take some time for everyone to get used to, Hines-Allen included.
Time will tell if this is the final trade the Jaguars will make under their new leadership regime of head coach Liam Coen, general manager James Gladstone and EVP of football operations Tony Boselli. But for now, they have started the offseason off with a bang.
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