I genuinely have no idea what the Atlanta Falcons are doing with Kyle Pitts right now.
This offseason, Atlanta made a significant commitment to Pitts, signing him to a three-year, $54 million extension with $36 million guaranteed. It made sense after Pitts finally put together the type of season the Falcons had been waiting for, finishing 2025 with 88 receptions for 928 yards and five touchdowns.
Four games into the first season of that new contract, Pitts has caught five passes for 67 yards and zero touchdowns. You could excuse some of that because of Atlanta’s quarterback situation during the first two games. Michael Penix Jr. wasn’t playing, and the Falcons were forced to turn to their third-string quarterback.
But Penix has now returned for the past two games, Atlanta’s offense has exploded for 80 points, and Pitts still hasn’t really become part of it. In those two games, Pitts has just four receptions on five targets for 52 yards and zero touchdowns.
And what happened Monday night against the Saints made the situation even stranger.
What Happened Against New Orleans?
Atlanta dominated New Orleans 45–24 on Monday Night Football. Bijan Robinson was incredible, Brian Robinson Jr. scored three touchdowns, Drake London had another productive game and Jahan Dotson caught a 31-yard touchdown from Penix.
The offense was rolling. Kyle Pitts barely seemed to be part of the plan.
Pitts played just 29 of Atlanta’s 57 offensive snaps. Early in the game, his usage was particularly strange. Pitts played just one snap during Atlanta’s first two possessions and then disappeared from the offense for an extended stretch. Watching it live, it almost looked like he had been benched.
Then Atlanta suddenly called a play that looked specifically designed to get him the football. Penix rolled to his left off play action and found Pitts waiting in the flat. Pitts caught it and turned it into a 28-yard gain.
That’s what makes this so confusing. When Atlanta actually gets Pitts involved, you can still see the athleticism that made him such a unique prospect in the first place. But those opportunities have been incredibly limited. Pitts finished Monday with three catches for 47 yards on three targets.
Three targets for a player you just committed $54 million to.
We All Remember What Kyle Pitts Was Supposed to Be
This isn’t a normal tight end we’re talking about. Pitts was selected fourth overall in the 2021 NFL Draft, becoming the highest-drafted tight end of the modern draft era.
Coming out of Florida, the entire appeal was that Pitts wasn’t supposed to play like a traditional tight end. He was essentially a wide receiver in a tight end’s body. At 6-foot-6 with elite athleticism, Pitts could line up inline, in the slot or outside and create mismatches against linebackers and defensive backs.
We immediately saw the potential. As a rookie, Pitts recorded 68 receptions for 1,026 yards, becoming only the second rookie tight end in NFL history at the time to surpass 1,000 receiving yards.
The next several seasons didn’t go according to plan. Injuries, inconsistent quarterback play and questionable usage all contributed to Pitts failing to build on that rookie season. Then 2025 happened. Pitts caught 88 passes for 928 yards and five touchdowns, and Atlanta apparently saw enough to decide that Pitts remained an important part of its future.
That’s why they paid him.
Which makes what we’re seeing now even harder to understand.
Maybe Pitts Just Doesn’t Fit This Offense
There is another side to this. Maybe this isn’t entirely about Kyle Pitts. Maybe Atlanta’s offense simply doesn’t need him to have a massive receiving role anymore.
The Falcons have Bijan Robinson, one of the most talented running backs in football and the centerpiece of their offense. They have Drake London, who I consider a top-10 receiver in the NFL and clearly deserves to be the primary option in the passing game.
Atlanta’s offense has scored 35 and 45 points in Penix’s two starts since returning, so it’s difficult to sit here and say the offense isn’t working. It clearly is.
If you’re Atlanta, why would you take touches away from Bijan? Why would you take targets away from London? If Penix is efficiently moving the football and the Falcons are putting up 40 points, maybe Pitts simply isn’t going to command the volume he did last season.
That’s understandable. But then we come back to the same question:
Why give him a three-year, $54 million extension?
You don’t have to make Pitts the number one option. You don’t even have to make him the number two option. But surely there has to be something between making him a focal point and giving him three targets while he plays roughly half the offensive snaps.
Atlanta Has to Figure Out What Pitts Is
This is ultimately where I think the Falcons have a decision to make. Kyle Pitts is still only 25 years old. We’re not talking about an aging veteran whose athleticism has disappeared. We’re talking about a player who was viewed as one of the most unique tight end prospects ever, produced a 1,000-yard season as a rookie and caught 88 passes just last year.
If Atlanta believes Pitts fits this offense, then find a way to use him. Move him around, put him in the slot, line him up outside, create mismatches and use play action with Bijan to get Pitts into space like Atlanta did on his 28-yard reception against New Orleans.
But if Atlanta has decided that Pitts simply doesn’t fit what it wants to do offensively, then this becomes a completely different conversation.
Could a Trade Eventually Make Sense?
The NFL trade deadline is approaching next month. I’m not saying Atlanta should trade Kyle Pitts tomorrow. Four games is an incredibly small sample, and there’s plenty of time for his role to increase. Defenses are going to devote enormous attention to Bijan Robinson and Drake London, and that should eventually create opportunities for Pitts.
But if we reach the trade deadline and nothing has changed, I think Atlanta at least has to consider what it’s doing.
There would absolutely be teams around the NFL interested in a 25-year-old tight end with Pitts’ physical ability. Maybe another offense sees him differently. Maybe another coaching staff views him as the oversized receiver everyone thought he could become coming out of Florida. And maybe Atlanta could turn a player it isn’t heavily using into draft capital or another piece that better fits its offense.
The contract complicates that conversation, especially considering Atlanta just committed to Pitts this offseason. But that’s also exactly why his current usage is so strange.
You don’t pay a player $54 million and then seemingly struggle to figure out what to do with him.
Something Has to Change
The Falcons are in an unusual position because their offense is playing extremely well. This isn’t an argument that Atlanta needs to completely change its offense to accommodate Kyle Pitts. Bijan Robinson should remain the centerpiece. Drake London should continue receiving significant targets. And if Michael Penix Jr. continues playing well and Atlanta keeps scoring 35 or 45 points every week, nobody should be asking the Falcons to tear up the playbook.
But Kyle Pitts is too talented, too young and now too expensive to simply disappear.
Maybe his role grows over the next month. Maybe Atlanta starts finding creative ways to involve him. Maybe defenses begin selling out to stop Bijan and London and Pitts becomes the player who benefits most.
But if we reach the trade deadline and Pitts is still playing around half the offensive snaps and getting two or three targets per game, Atlanta is going to have a decision to make.
Because right now, the question isn’t whether Kyle Pitts can still play.
The question is why the Atlanta Falcons just paid him like an important part of their future and are barely using him like one.
Like the article and subscribe to Ethical Sports Takes for more NFL coverage throughout the 2026 season.
Leave a Reply