The Pittsburgh Steelers have re-signed long snapper Christian Kuntz to a one-year deal, the team announced today.
Kuntz was scheduled to be an exclusive rights free agent, meaning the team held control over him this offseason. Now, he’s officially under contract for next year. The team’s other exclusive rights player is OLB Jamir Jones. Kuntz’s deal is likely to be worth $940,000.
Kuntz has served as the Steelers’ long snapper for the past two seasons, beating out Kameron Canaday in 2021 for the starting job. Undrafted out of Duquesne, he first signed with the Steelers in 2019, seeing time at outside linebacker and even picking up a sack in the preseason finale against the Carolina Panthers. But he transitioned to full-time specialist and earned the team’s long snapping job.
Turning 29 in April, he’s the favorite to be the team’s starting long snapper for 2023, keeping intact the specialists’ core of him, punter Pressley Harvin III, and kicker Chris Boswell.
Kuntz started all 17 games last season but had his struggles on field goals, forcing Harvin to have to reach up for a couple of snaps. He logged 171 special teams snaps last year and his PFF grade was just 37.0, a poor number. Still, none of his snaps were disastrous and directly led to missed field goals.
We’ll see if the team brings in any competition for him this off-season. Currently, he is the only dedicated snapper on the team’s roster.
