Steelers A to Z: Local product Christian Kuntz entering 5th season as team’s long snapper

Editor’s note: From now until reporting day to training camp at Saint Vincent College, TribLive is running through the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 90-man roster, looking at each player and assessing his outlook for the 2025 season. The breakdown will run in alphabetical order with at least two players each day between June 12 and July 23. Contract data courtesy spotrac.com.

LS CHRISTIAN KUNTZ

Experience/age: Fifth accrued season, 31

Contract status: $1.28 million cap hit in 2025, signed through 2026

The past: A one-time basketball teammate of T.J. McConnell at Chartiers Valley High School, Kuntz was a big supporter of the Indiana Pacers during the recently-completed NBA Finals in which McConnell served as a sparkplug for the underdogs. Like McConnell, Kuntz went undrafted and needed to prove himself before earning steady work as a pro. For Kuntz, that required something of a position switch from edge rusher, a position from which he to set a Northeast Conference-record 30 career sacks at Duquesne University. After graduating in 2017, he was cut five times by four different NFL teams — and was part of an XFL team that folded during the pandemic — before making a run as a full-time, focused long snapper with the Steelers during the spring and summer of 2021. It was then he won a competition with Kameron Canaday — and Kuntz has served as the team’s long snapper ever since.

The Steelers value Kuntz’s tackling skills; pro-football-reference.com credits him with nine career tackles (six solo). He’s been durable, too, not missing any of the 71 games (including playoffs) the Steelers have played since he won their snapper’s job.

Christian Kuntz — a Chartiers Valley and Duquesne U alum — on the yinzers getting to experience the 2026 NFL draft pic.twitter.com/8VFSLNW6Nv

— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) May 22, 2024

2025 outlook: Kuntz entered last season’s camp without competition and up until a week ago it appeared that would be the case in 2025, too. But the Steelers did sign Tucker Addington on June 25, making it a six-specialist camp (two each at punter, kicker and snapper). It is by far more common that is the case (rest assured the Steelers are not unhappy with kicker Chris Boswell) because it makes for easier drills and practice logistics when every specialist has a duplicate. (It also eases wear and tear on the older specialists).

Still, Addington is no mere warm body. He’s snapped in multiple live regular-season NFL games during each of the past three seasons, playing for three different teams. He’s a capable snapper. That doesn’t mean Kuntz’s job is in any way explicitly in jeopardy. But as the old cliché goes, you’re always performing for your job.