Christian Kirk's Fantasy Football Value After Trade To Texans

Michael Fabiano | Mar 6, 2025

Christian Kirk (13) has been traded to the Houston Texans for a 2026 seventh-round draft pick. / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In a rare in-division trade, the Jacksonville Jaguars have dealt Christian Kirk to the Houston Texans in exchange for a 2026 seventh-round pick. Kirk is slated to make $16.5 million in what is the final year of his contract. The move makes sense in real and fantasy football terms for Houston.

Houston, which was reportedly interested in Deebo Samuel Sr. before he was traded to Washington, gets a new slot receiver to replace Tank Dell. Dell is slated to miss the 2025 season with a badly injured knee. That leaves Kirk to see plenty of targets in the Houston offense, especially with Stefon Diggs heading into free agency later this month.

In a best-case scenario, I can see Kirk pushing for WR3/flex value as the No. 2 option in the Texans' pass attack behind Nico Collins. Of course, Houston might not be done adding wide receivers (Robert Woods is also a free agent), so keep tabs on any further moves it makes. As for C.J. Stroud, adding Kirk won’t move the fantasy needle much. He’s still a No. 2 option.

In Jacksonville, Parker Washington could replace Kirk and see more work on the inside next season. He ran 38 percent of his 2024 routes out of the slot. Regardless, the Jags’ best fantasy wideout remains Brian Thomas Jr., who broke out as a top-10 fantasy wideout as a rookie.

Gabe Davis is likely to return to his starting role on the perimeter after getting hurt last season, and Brenton Strange will be a popular sleeper since Evan Engram was released. Jacksonville could also dip into the free-agent pool or add another receiver in the NFL draft, but for now, I’d say Washington and Strange are the winners with Kirk out of the mix.