Kyle Pitts just got a new contract. He is still on the NFL rumor mill.
The Falcons agreed to a three-year, $54 million extension with Pitts this week, taking him off the trade block in the short term. The deal secures the tight end through 2028 and gives Atlanta a foundational offensive piece. But league sources have already been quoted this offseason saying that Pitts’s name will resurface in trade conversations at multiple points during the coming year.
The reason is simple. Pitts has been on the trade rumor mill since 2023. Every offseason cycle, his name comes up. Every trade deadline, teams check in. The Falcons have never gotten close to moving him, but the questions about his fit in the Atlanta offense have continued.
Baltimore was the loudest team named this year. The Ravens lost multiple tight ends to free agency this offseason and were reportedly looking for a mismatch weapon to line up next to Isaiah Likely. Pitts profiles as exactly that kind of player. The Ravens have the offensive imagination to use him at his highest ceiling, and Lamar Jackson would have benefited from a big-body target down the middle of the field.
None of it happened. The Falcons paid Pitts and moved on. The Ravens are going to have to find another tight end. But the underlying dynamic that made Pitts a rumored trade candidate has not changed, and it is unlikely to change until his production in Atlanta catches up to his talent.
His numbers last season were fine, not spectacular. He caught 74 passes for 792 yards and 6 touchdowns. Those are respectable numbers for a tight end, but they are well below the ceiling of a player who ran for over 1,000 yards as a rookie. The gap between his talent and his production is the thing that keeps him on the rumor mill.
The bigger picture for the Falcons is Michael Penix Jr.’s development. If Penix takes a step forward this year and the offense clicks, Pitts’s numbers should rise organically. Head coach Raheem Morris and offensive coordinator Zac Robinson have been clear that Pitts is a priority target in the passing game. That commitment now has three more years of runway.
Teams that would still be interested if Atlanta ever changes course include the Ravens, obviously, but also New England, which just made the playoffs and could use a mismatch tight end for the Drake Maye offense. The New York Jets have also been floated as a potential landing spot given their tight end room’s limitations.
None of this is happening this month. The extension took Pitts off the immediate market. But teams generally do not stop tracking players just because a contract was signed. If Atlanta struggles again in 2026 and Pitts’s production stays under expectations, the trade drumbeat will start up again next offseason.
For now, Pitts is a Falcon. He got paid. He has the security every player wants. And the questions about whether he can hit his ceiling in Atlanta will continue to hang over the entire situation until he does hit it.
The trade rumors are quiet for now. They are not gone forever.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
