It was a dream come true for wide receiver Christian Kirk when his hometown team, the Arizona Cardinals, selected him with the 47th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. He played four seasons with the Cardinals and helped the Cardinals make the playoffs for the first time since 2015.
However, in an appearance on The Rich Eisen Show, Kirk said it was difficult to leave Arizona, but he couldn’t turn down a four-year, $72 million deal from Jacksonville. He said he was also intrigued by the opportunity to play for head coach Doug Pederson and with second-year quarterback Trevor Lawrence on Friday.
“Well, I think No. 1 is the opportunity to play with a quarterback like Trevor (Lawrence) who’s a young player with a ton of potential and a ton of talent, I think who showed flashes that he can be one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL,” Kirk said. “Like I mentioned, playing under coach Pederson but also the opportunity to be a primary target in that offense and be able to keep going out there and competing.”
Kirk added that the Jaguars fit what he was looking for. He said that he didn’t make contact with Lawrence before the signing, but the two quickly connected after the deal went public. They have already started building a relationship and discussed getting together with other wide receivers for offseason workouts.
“Yeah, 100 percent,” Kirk said about putting together workout sessions. “I know he did something similar last year, and we’ve had preliminary talks about getting everybody together. I think it’s important getting all the skill guys out there and getting that connection down, getting the timing down.”
That’s a great first step for a Jacksonville aerial attack that was 11th in the league in passing yards per game at 2021.
