Pittsburgh Steelers Exit Meeting: LS Christian Kuntz
Experience: 4 Years
Christian Kuntz did the unthinkable in 2021 and unseated Kameron Canaday as the Steelers’ long snapper. Canaday is the legend who overtook Colin Holba for the job, the latter a sixth-round draft pick who never played for Pittsburgh. In other words, it’s not a particularly big deal who the Steelers’ long snapper is to the average fan.
The Steelers are content with Kuntz’s work in that area, however, signing him to a three-year deal last year. While they did make a long-term commitment to him on paper, I should note the Steelers aren’t tied down. In essence, that deal is a series of three one-year contracts with a front-loaded signing bonus.
Christian Kuntz is earning the league-minimum salary in each season for his length of service. The Steelers threw in a $325,000 signing bonus, but they could have given him more than that in signing bonuses over three years while still qualifying for a Veteran Salary Benefit deal.
One can only assume that the Steelers signed Kuntz to a three-year deal as a mere gesture. Kuntz is a Yinzer through and through and would keep signing one-year deals for the rest of his life. There was no reason for the Steelers to make a long-term arrangement, and in fact it is a mild disadvantage. Because of that, they don’t qualify for the salary cap savings of a Veteran Salary Benefit deal.
Granted, the Steelers aren’t losing out on Tee Higgins because of that, but it was still unnecessary. And to be quite honest, there is nothing about Christian Kuntz’s game that distinguishes him as a superlative long snapper. It’s not like he has the pinpoint placement consistency of Greg Warren in his prime. Even with a linebacker background, it’s not like he makes many special teams tackles.
All this is to say that there isn’t much to say about the Steelers and Christian Kuntz. He is just the team’s long snapper, and he is good enough. The most noteworthy development surrounding him is the fact that he started a podcast last year. Otherwise, he is just living out a Steelers fan’s dream of earning a paycheck to attend games. Good for him.
The Pittsburgh Steelers find themselves at home, the inevitable result of another early playoff exit. This is a repeated pattern for the organization, with no clear end in sight. As the Steelers conduct their own exit meetings, we will go down the roster conducting our own. Who should stay, and who should go, and how? Who should expect a bigger role next season, and who might deserve a new contract? We’ll explore those questions and more in these articles, part of an annual series.
