As just lately as final week, NFL analyst Aaron Schatz of ESPN argued that the Atlanta Falcons ought to commerce tight finish Kyle Pitts this offseason to “get a (draft) decide sooner whereas getting $10M off the books.”
For a mailbag printed on Monday, The Athletic’s Josh Kendall addressed the Pitts commerce rumors that might hover over the Falcons from the NFL mix by means of the beginning of the 2025 draft on April 24.
“No, and it’s as a result of I simply don’t assume there’s a terrific marketplace for him,” Kendall responded to a query in regards to the Falcons presumably buying and selling Pitts. “What would you provide for Dallas tight finish Jake Ferguson or Buffalo tight finish Dalton Kincaid? They each have extra receiving yards per recreation than Pitts within the final two seasons. The Falcons are paying a fairly low value ($10.9M) to see if Pitts can lastly have a breakout season in 2025. If he doesn’t, then I anticipate him to hit the open market, the place somebody will take a low-risk probability on him.”
Whereas Pitts earned a Professional Bowl nod as a rookie, it is hardly a stretch to say he hasn’t change into the game-changing playmaker Atlanta hoped it landed when it made him the highest-drafted tight finish in NFL historical past (fourth total decide) within 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 4 landing grabs.
“He ranked thirty second out of 48 qualifying tight ends in receiving (defense-adjusted worth over common),” Schatz stated about Pitts’ 2024 marketing campaign. “After 15.1 yards per reception as a rookie, he hasn’t topped 13.0 yards per reception in any of the previous three seasons. Pitts performed solely 62% of Atlanta’s offensive snaps final season, whereas blocking tight finish Charlie Woerner performed 40%.”
Final March, the Falcons signed veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180M contract that included $100M assured with the hope that an offense that includes Cousins, Pitts and others may assist the membership pursue greater than only a playoff berth. It is now recognized Cousins played hurt from not less than Week 10 of the marketing campaign up till he misplaced his beginning job to 2024 first-round draft decide Michael Penix Jr. after Week 15.
Penix vowed earlier this winter that his reference to Pitts “goes to proceed to construct” by means of the offseason. Atlanta seemingly has little to achieve in promoting considered one of Penix’s weapons for pennies on the greenback, and the way the 24-year-old develops in his first offseason as a full-time NFL QB1 may in the end decide if Pitts receives a second contract from the Falcons.
