As recently as last week, NFL analyst Aaron Schatz of ESPN argued that the Atlanta Falcons should trade tight end Kyle Pitts this offseason to “get a (draft) pick sooner while getting $10M off the books.”
For a mailbag published on Monday, The Athletic’s Josh Kendall addressed the Pitts trade rumors that could hover over the Falcons from the NFL combine through the start of the 2025 draft on April 24.
“No, and it’s because I just don’t think there’s a great market for him,” Kendall responded to a question about the Falcons possibly trading Pitts. “What would you offer for Dallas tight end Jake Ferguson or Buffalo tight end Dalton Kincaid? They both have more receiving yards per game than Pitts in the last two seasons. The Falcons are paying a pretty low price ($10.9M) to see if Pitts can finally have a breakout season in 2025. If he doesn’t, then I expect him to hit the open market, where someone will take a low-risk chance on him.”
While Pitts earned a Pro Bowl nod as a rookie, it’s hardly a stretch to say he hasn’t become the game-changing playmaker Atlanta hoped it landed when it made him the highest-drafted tight end in NFL history (fourth overall pick) in the spring of 2021. Per ESPN stats, Pitts ended the 2024 season ranked fifth on the Falcons with 47 receptions, fourth with 74 targets, fourth with 602 receiving yards and third with four touchdown grabs.
“He ranked 32nd out of 48 qualifying tight ends in receiving (defense-adjusted value over average),” Schatz said about Pitts’ 2024 campaign. “After 15.1 yards per reception as a rookie, he hasn’t topped 13.0 yards per reception in any of the past three seasons. Pitts played only 62% of Atlanta’s offensive snaps last season, while blocking tight end Charlie Woerner played 40%.”
Last March, the Falcons signed veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180M contract that included $100M guaranteed with the hope that an offense featuring Cousins, Pitts and others could help the club pursue more than just a playoff berth. It’s now known Cousins played hurt from at least Week 10 of the campaign up until he lost his starting job to 2024 first-round draft pick Michael Penix Jr. after Week 15.
Penix vowed earlier this winter that his connection with Pitts “is going to continue to build” through the offseason. Atlanta seemingly has little to gain in selling one of Penix’s weapons for pennies on the dollar, and how the 24-year-old develops in his first offseason as a full-time NFL QB1 could ultimately determine if Pitts receives a second contract from the Falcons.
