Another potential slot wide receiver fit for the Pittsburgh Steelers in free agency is going off the board, as the San Francisco 49ers are signing veteran wide receiver Christian Kirk .
Kirk has agreed to a one-year, $6 million deal with the 49ers, according to a report by NFL insider Jordan Schultz.
The Steelers have shown interest for Kirk, nearly trading for him in 2024, when he was on the Jacksonville Jaguars , but a mid-season injury killed that idea . In 2025, he signed with the Houston Texans , where he had a pedestrian regular season before lighting the Steelers up in the playoffs.
The Steelers have always seemed to have a fondness for signing players that performed well against them in the recent past, and wounds left behind by Kirk from the Steelers' Wild Card playoff loss to the Texans are still fresh.
Houston Texans wide receiver Christian Kirk in a playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Jan. 12, 2026. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
Over the course of the 2025 season in Houston, Kirk caught just 28 passes for 239 yards and one touchdown. But at Acrisure Stadium on Jan. 12, he went off with eight catches for 144 yards and one touchdown, setting a new career high in yards in a game.
The 5-foot-11, 200-pound 29-year-old played 73% of his snaps in the slot for the Texans last year, so he could have been a strong option for the Steelers in the slot, as they seek someone to play inboard of DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman Jr.
Without Kirk on the board, the other top remaining options for the Steelers include Keenan Allen , Hollywood Brown , Tyreek Hill , Deebo Samuel and JuJu Smith-Schuster .
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : 49ers Snap Up Potential Steelers Slot WR Target in Free Agency
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