Sure seems like Christian Kirk's tenure with Jaguars is coming to an end in 2025

The Jacksonville Jaguars will have to fill several roster holes in 2025. While they have ample space and enough picks to address most of them, they could also release a handful of players to create extra cap room. And based on how things unfold this season, wide receiver Christian Kirk could be among those on the chopping block.

Allex Ballentine of Bleacher Report recently drew up a list of release candidates for the worst teams in the NFL. For Jacksonville, he chose Kirk, defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton, and cornerback Ronald Darby.

Hamilton and Darby have certainly been underwhelming in 2024 but Kirk is arguably the most disappointing of the bunch, even if he's not at fault. Here's what Ballentine had to say about him:

"The 2018 second-rounder got off to a good start in Jacksonville with 1,108 yards and eight touchdowns in his first season with Trevor Lawrence.

The magic is gone now, though. Kirk has suffered a season-ending injury for the second year in a row and has only played 20 games over the last two seasons.

He's a talented receiver, but he'll be a 29-year-old coming off a major injury for the second consecutive season set to cost $24.4 million. The Jaguars get that number down to $13.7 million by releasing him."

Kirk joined the Jaguars in 2022 after spending four seasons with the Arizona Cardinals. At the time, his signing raised eyebrows because general manager Trent Baalke gave him a top-market contract despite the fact that he had never had 1,000 yards in a season and only logged more than 900 once in his career.

Kirk quickly silenced doubters, registering more than 1,000 yards and scoring a career-best eight touchdowns in his first year in Jacksonville. He was on pace to once again reach the 1,000-yard mark in 2023 before a core injury forced him to miss the last four games of the season.

Looking to prove he was still the same player, Kirk got off to a strong start in 2024 but suffered a collarbone injury that ended his season prematurely. As Ballentine stated, releasing the former Texas A&M Aggie would create $13.65 million in dead money but would also free up $10.7 million in space, making him a likely candidate cut candidate.

Why the Jaguars could move on from Christian Kirk in 2025

There's no denying Christian Kirk had a huge impact on the turnaround the Jacksonville Jaguars enjoyed in 2022. Similarly, he established himself as one of Trevor Lawrence's most trusted targets over the last two years. That said, signs point toward the team moving on from him next year.

For starters, he's already had season-ending injuries in back-to-back years. It's certainly not fair that he could potentially get released because he's not healthy, but that's the cold nature of the NFL, where availability is the most important ability. Compounding the issue is that the Jaguars could use the $10 million in space they could get by trading him or outright cutting him.

If that wasn't enough, the Jaguars already have a potential replacement for Kirk in sophomore Parker Washington, who's made the most of his opportunities both as a slot receiver and a returner. Add the fact that Jacksonville was already working on a deal that would send Kirk to the Pittsburgh Steelers at the 2024 NFL trade deadline and it's hard to see him returning next year.

The one thing that could help Kirk stay is taking a massive pay cut. But if that's the case, he may come to the conclusion that he's better off latching onto another team.

The bottom line is that Christian Kirk's days with the Jaguars seem to be numbered, and nobody will bat an eye if he leaves next year.

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