“The Jaguars signed Kirk to a four-year, $72 million contract in 2022. At the time, I viewed that as overpaying for a player who had not had a thousand-yard season in his first four years in Arizona,” Diamond said. .

“Kirk had an excellent first season in Jacksonville with 84 catches, 1,108 yards and eight touchdowns. His numbers dipped last season as he missed five games with an abdominal injury. Kirk’s production wasn’t great this season, posting 27 catches for 379. He threw for yards and a touchdown before breaking his collarbone against the Packers in Week 8.”

Diamond noted that the Jaguars have multiple teams looking to trade Kirk. The coaching staff and organization made a mistake by continuing to play a potential trade asset. They will now pay the price, figuratively and literally.

“The Jaguars had several suitors as they prepared to trade Kirk and his $16.5 million 2025 salary,” Diamond said. “They could get a good return on the 27-year-old, and I know it’s hard for a team going 2-5 going into the Green Bay game to land the player.”

“In retrospect, the Jaguars regret not putting him on the shelf for a few games while trade talks were ongoing,” Diamond said. “They now enter the 2025 league year with a $27.3 million cap hit on Kirk, or they can release him and take the $13.5 million dead money hit.”

“His commercial value has decreased due to the serious injuries he has suffered for two consecutive years.” Diamond said.

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