Three Trade Proposals For Falcons TE Kyle Pitts

At this stage of the offseason, the Falcons probably won’t change their minds. The time to shop Pitts would have been February and March when teams were building their vision for the upcoming season and when the Falcons could have added picks to help the 2025 team. Still, other teams have at least been poking around with the Falcons about Pitts. 

His salary and the Falcons’ asking price are major obstacles to a deal, but let’s just suspend belief for a minute and say Atlanta has decided to move Pitts. Perhaps a team does indeed put a Day 2 pick on the table, even conditionally, or the Falcons decide it’s time to make a move and take what they can get. Maybe Pitts decides he’s ready for a fresh start and forces the issue with a trade request. 

Should the Falcons look to move Pitts, three teams stand out above the rest as potential landing spots. There are a handful of others that could make sense if you squint, but there’s a component or two of the situation that doesn’t completely add up. No matter if it’s Atlanta or another franchise, it feels likely that Pitts plays out the final year of his contract and the chips fall where they will in 2026, whether it’s free agency or perhaps the franchise tag if he has a strong season. 

Frontrunners

New England Patriots

The Patriots are already in pretty solid shape at tight end with the duo of Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper. Henry’s going on his fifth season in New England as a do-everything player, while Hooper is a solid No. 2 with experience playing for HC Josh McDaniels. But it’s fair to say there are still questions overall about whether the Patriots offense has enough firepower. While adding Pitts would make for a crowded depth chart, McDaniels also has a ton of experience featuring multiple tight ends in his offense, and has been chasing the on-field dynamic he had with Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez for years and years. 

Trading for Pitts would give McDaniels a Hernandez-type to go with Henry and Hooper, the more traditional in-line options. Injuries have sapped Pitts of some of the freaky movement skills he had coming out of college but if he can get back to that or 95 percent of the way there, he’s got true receiver skills in a tight end’s body. The best offenses of McDaniels’ career have focused on isolating and exploiting mismatches against opposing defenses. Pitts is the type of player who can create those matchups at his best. 

The Patriots also don’t really have any other pass catchers with that kind of potential. The receiving corps is crowded with free agents Stefon Diggs and Mack Hollins and third-rounder Kyle Williams coming in to supplement a group that included Demario Douglas, Kendrick Bourne, Kayshon Boutte and 2024 rookies Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker. Diggs was that kind of player once, but even before he tore his ACL last year, he looked to be on the downslope of his career. Barring Williams being a Day 1 star or some kind of unforeseen breakout, this is a group of role players. 

Of course, Pitts has been more tease than proven production as well. But even though the glimpses of Pitts’ best have been fleeting so far in his four-year career, that potential is enough to keep teams invested, especially because he doesn’t even turn 25 years old until October. The Patriots lead the NFL with $67 million in cap space right now and can easily afford to roll the dice on a player as talented as Pitts. If it doesn’t work out, it’s still a shot worth taking. 

Pittsburgh Steelers

That sound you just heard was fantasy football managers worldwide wailing and gnashing their teeth at the thought of Pitts being back in the clutches of OC Arthur Smith. The veteran play-caller was once a rising star but drew a lot of ire throughout his time in Atlanta for his tendency to get too cute with his top skill players and use them as decoys rather than scheme up ways to force-feed them touches. Now that we’ve seen Pitts’ struggles continue with another scheme and coaching staff, perhaps it’s worth absolving Smith of some of the blame — particularly because Pitts’ best year as a pro came with Smith calling the plays. 

Smith and the Steelers are back on the prowl for an offensive playmaker again just like they were all of last season when they were connected to a plethora of receivers, including nearly landing a deal for 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk. Pittsburgh traded for WR D.K. Metcalf this offseason but blunted those gains by turning around and trading WR George Pickens after the draft. The Steelers generally have earned the benefit of the doubt when they decide it’s time to move on from a receiver but regardless, they are back where they were last summer looking for a worthy No. 2 receiver. 

Their focus might not just be on wideouts. The Steelers had at least some level of trade interest in Dolphins TE Jonnu Smith, another Smith favorite from his past. Even though that deal seems unlikely to come together, it could be instructive about what the Steelers are looking for. Smith isn’t a traditional in-line tight end and was always paired with another option so Smith could move him around and create matchups. Pitts would be deployed in a similar way, and while he’s not a receiver, he could help give the Steelers another pass catcher to capitalize on the attention Metcalf will likely draw as the No. 1. 

Pittsburgh also has the resources for a deal like this. The Steelers are in the top ten in available cap space right now with over $30 million. They have an extra third-round pick from the Cowboys after trading Pickens, and also are projected to max out their possible compensatory picks with four additional selections. Whether it’s Pitts or another player, the team is well-positioned to make a move and still be in position to aggressively go after a quarterback in the draft in 2026. 

Perhaps being in Pittsburgh and not having the expectations as a former top-five pick would be good for both Pitts and Smith. He can be more of a complementary player instead of the record-breaker fans were expecting. With a tight end group of Pitts, Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington, Smith would be in hog heaven as a play-caller. 

Jacksonville Jaguars

The Rams were one of the teams I heavily considered including in this section (more on them below). Instead, I went with a team that shares a fair amount of the same DNA given new Jaguars HC Liam Coen and GM James Gladstone spent many of their formative football years in Los Angeles. Like the Rams, the Jaguars have already shown that they will put a premium on offensive skill players. Not only did they trade up to No. 2 for CB/WR Travis Hunter, the tea leaves suggest they would have taken RB Ashton Jeanty at No. 5 had they been unable to move up for Hunter. They also dropped $10 million guaranteed on a one-year deal for WR Dyami Brown and double-dipped at running back in the draft. 

If they’re still on the hunt for more weapons, they could look into trading for Pitts. Jacksonville felt strongly enough about TE Brenton Strange to move on from former starting TE Evan Engram, and they’ve talked him up as a potential breakout player this offseason. More importantly, they haven’t added any serious competition in either the draft or free agency. However, they could still look into adding Pitts as a complement, not a replacement, for Strange. The two may both be tight ends, but they’re different kinds of players, with Strange more of a possession, in-line type and Pitts essentially a jumbo receiver. 

A return to the state of Florida could be a positive for Pitts, as well as a pairing with Coen who likely would be the best play-caller Pitts has played for in his career. The Jaguars have the cap space to absorb Pitts’ contract, and while they’d have to give up a pick to get him, the compensatory formula provides a bit of a backstop. If things don’t go well or if Pitts doesn’t fit into the long-term vision, they can let him walk and play the comp pick game to defray the cost of trading for him. If things do go well and Pitts signs an extension, then it’s a great trade. 

Under Consideration

Los Angeles Rams

As mentioned above, the Rams place a high priority on having quality skill position players. Last year they worked the phones hard trying to move up for TE Brock Bowers, and this year they also seemed eager to move up, possibly for a tight end or another skill player. Given all that, it would make sense for them to have some interest in Pitts, however, they did eventually land a tight end they had a big grade on in second-rounder Terrance Ferguson, another receiving-first tight end. That pick likely takes them out of the running for Pitts, especially with a wave of players coming due for contracts in the next couple of years. 

New York Giants

Teams with young quarterbacks tend to try and surround them with playmakers to ease their development and ensure their success. The Giants tried to follow that playbook a few years ago, trading for TE Darren Waller to support QB Daniel Jones. Both situations fizzled out but it’s easy to see how the New York front office could be tempted to try again, trading for Pitts to give first-round QB Jaxson Dart a big target. 

Ultimately, the Giants have talked up 2024 fourth-round TE Theo Johnson a fair amount and he’s expected to be the starter this year. More importantly, the team has just a few million in available cap space, not enough to take on Pitts’ contract. There’s always money in the banana stand for teams motivated to find more, but in this case I think the Giants will leave well enough alone and give Johnson a chance to succeed or fail on his own. There’s a good chance they could just sign Pitts as a free agent next year without giving up any picks. 

Kansas City Chiefs

Star TE Travis Kelce won’t play forever, and the idea of Pitts as a replacement in the Kansas City offense is fun to think about. However, Kelce is still in the fold for the upcoming season and the Chiefs have been mindful of not overpaying, whether in cash or draft picks, for players. They are also more likely to target Pitts as a free agent in 2026, if at all. 

Los Angeles Chargers

Plenty of people expected the Chargers to make a splash at tight end this offseason. Instead, they brought back Will Dissly, added Tyler Conklin and skipped the position in the draft outside of a fifth-rounder on Oronde Gadsden II. Gadsden is kind of interesting, as he played some receiver in college. That shows the Chargers do envision some kind of a role for a player like Pitts even if he’s not an imposing blocker, and Pitts is probably a far superior athlete to Gadsden. Los Angeles also still has a ton of cap space and can easily take on Pitts’ contract. 

If there’s a team I nearly added to the frontrunners category, it was the Chargers. But big moves have just not been their style this offseason. For what they want to do as a run-heavy offense, a room of Dissly, Conklin and Gadsden may be sufficient while the Chargers lean on WR Mike Williams and second-round WR Tre Harris as complementary pass catchers along with WR Ladd McConkey.