The Jacksonville Jaguars spent big last offseason to sign wide receiver Christian Kirk and the addition paid off in a major way. In his first season in Duval, Kirk led the Jaguars in every major receiving category, finishing with 84 receptions, 1,108 yards, and eight touchdowns.
Apparently, the Jaguars owe some thanks for that to Arizona Cardinals tight end Zach Ertz.
“I didn’t even really think about Jacksonville until they reached out,” Kirk said earlier this week on a podcast with former NFL receiver Steve Smith Sr. “They’ve got a solid defense, they’ve got some good guys over there. You could see it with Trevor [Lawrence].
“I remember Zach Ertz telling me ‘Hey, [if] you don’t come back here to Arizona, if you get an opportunity to look at Jacksonville because of Doug Pederson, you should really take it seriously because he’s one of the best.’ Obviously, Zach played for Doug in Philly, won a Super Bowl. So [he said], ‘You should really consider playing for Doug’ and that carried a lot of weight for me.”
Ertz, 32, was in his ninth season with the Philadelphia Eagles when he was traded to the Cardinals in 2021. Pederson was the head coach of the Eagles for five of those years, including the 2017 season that ended with Philadelphia winning Super Bowl LII.
The Jaguars hired Pederson in February 2022, a month before the team signed Kirk to a four-year, $72 million contract.
