Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins has dominated much of the the Atlanta Falcons news cycle this offseason, but what exactly to do with struggling tight end Kyle Pitts probably comes a close second.
Pitts moves into his own make or break contractual season in his fifth season after the Falcons made him the highest drafted tight end in history. Publicly, the Falcons are backing their 24-year old investment, but what’s said when the cameras are rolling often varies greatly from what’s actually going on behind the scenes.
Pro Football and Sports Network (PFSN) named a veteran each team could move this offseason, and it wasn’t Cousins who was picked for the Falcons.
The Falcons Podcast: Spotify | Apple Pods | iHeart
“Kirk Cousins is the name everyone will assume goes here,” wrote PFSN “The Falcons could certainly move the $45 million per year quarterback, but a lack of urgency and leverage means there really isn’t any reason to expect a Cousins trade anytime soon. If the Falcons weren’t rivals with the Saints, the two would have made sense as trade partners in the wake of Derek Carr’s shoulder injury.”
The Saints have two years and $80 million left on the books for Carr who is expected to miss most, if not all, of 2025. They’ll be in the market for a cheap option, and the Falcons won’t be in any hurry to give the Saints a break on Cousins’s contract.
“Instead, Kyle Pitts could be an underrated trade asset,” PFSN continued. “Pitts is playing out the fifth-year option on his rookie deal after averaging a career-low 35.4 receiving yards per game. Atlanta already has an impending mega-contract extension looming for Drake London, and Pitts played under 40 snaps per game for the first time in his career with a new coaching staff.
“The Steelers and Rams would represent reunions with coaches who were with Pitts his first three seasons. Former Falcons head coach Arthur Smith is the offensive coordinator for the Steelers, while his former OC Dave Ragone is the quarterbacks coach for the Rams. The Steelers have a deep tight end room, but Pitts’ move tight end skill set would give them a different look than what Pat Freiermuth or Darnell Washington provide.”
Just because PFSN thinks Pitts is the “most-likely” candidate to be traded, doesn’t mean a deal will materialize. The Falcons have already sunk a fourth-overall pick and $33 million into Pitts. He’s making $10.9-million guaranteed on his fifth-year option, and the Falcons would love nothing more than for Pitts to play like a top-five tight end in 2025 and earn a bigger payday in 2026.
Atlanta has the franchise tag option for Pitts after this season if they’re hesitant to commit to a multi-year contract after 2025. A franchise tag would pay Pitts roughly $16.5-million guaranteed for 2026.
For that to happen the Falcons and Pitts must find a way to increase upon his embarrassingly low 40 snaps per game. Pitts saw his play time decrease as the season wore on. He had just 18 catches for 183 yards in the Falcons’ final-nine games of the season. The Falcons went 3-6 in that stretch.
No one has more to gain than Pitts when it comes to a rebound season in 2025. Trey McBride recently reset the market for tight ends with a four-year, $76-million extension with the Arizona Cardinals.
The Falcons are hoping Michael Penix Jr. and the motivation of a contract year helps unlock Pitts in 2025, but time is running out for the former-history-making tight end.
