Falcons ink three-year contract extension with Kyle Pitts

The deal comes with $36 million guaranteed, which essentially makes this more like a two-year deal with a reasonable out if Pitts doesn’t live up to expectations, something that was a common occurrence throughout his rookie contract.

However, Pitts is coming off by far his best campaign since his first year, setting career-highs in catches with 88 and touchdowns with five, finishing just shy of the 1,000 yard mark while appearing in all 17 games.

By AAV, this makes Kyle Pitts the third-highest paid tight end in the league, behind only George Kittle and Trey McBride — a resounding signal of confidence from the organization that they do not believe last season was a fluke. Moreover, the Falcons are essentially saying his struggles from 2022-2024 were more the result of poor quarterback play and a lingering knee injury that he finally looked to have recovered from this past season.

In three straight offseasons, the Falcons had top 10 picks that they spent on three straight skill position players — Kyle Pitts, Drake London, and Bijan Robinson. They have not yet returned to the playoffs since, but while it may have been a different regime that picked them, the new regime seems to have plenty of confidence in the trio.

Drake London already received a massive contract extension earlier this offseason. Kyle Pitts now joins him as one of the highest paid players at his position, and next up is undoubtedly Bijan Robinson, who will eventually reset the market at running back.

That’s a lot of money to spend on skill players. Much like it was a lot of draft capital a few years ago. We’ll see if it pans out better this time around.