After nearly breaking Mike Ditka’s rookie tight end receiving record with Matt Ryan as his quarterback, Kyle Pitts has struggled with injuries, inconsistent quarterback play, coaching changes, and what seemed to be lack of effort sometimes on the field.
Now, the former fourth-overall pick finds himself in a contract year. The Morning Shift talked about what they think Pitts needs to do to earn a new contract from the Falcons.
After what Beau Morgan has seen from Pitts over the last few seasons, he isn’t sure the tight end can do anything to make him want to see Pitts back in a Falcons uniform after this season.
“I don’t know if there is anything Kyle Pitts can do that makes me re-sign him,” Beau said.
Mike Johnson feels a little differently, and thinks there is something Pitts can do, and that’s get back to putting up the numbers he did his rookie year.
“I would say that if he can get back to what he was in 2021 when you did have Matt Ryan throwing him the ball that I would say that there’s a chance he could get a contract," Johnson said. "Now, is he gonna make George Kittle money? No, but there is a chance that I would be on board with signing him if he goes over 1,000 yards.”
You would like to think the Falcons’ tight end is set up to have a big year considering he’s in a contract year, he’s fully healthy, he has a quarterback that seems more than capable of getting him the ball, he has plenty of other offensive weapons around him to take pressure off him, and he’s going to be in the same offensive system with the same head coach for a second year in a row.
On the flip side, if Pitts doesn’t have a good year with seemingly all the tools to success in his tool box, it will be the definitive sign that Atlanta maybe just isn’t the place for him to succeed.