Atlanta Falcons sign Kyle Pitts to eye-popping rookie contract

The Atlanta Falcons have finally inked their top overall selection from the 2021 NFL Draft, playmaker Kyle Pitts. The Falcons have now signed all nine of their draft picks from general manager Terry Fontenot’s inaugural class.

Kyle Pitts is now under contract by the Atlanta Falcons for the next four years and like every first-round NFL draft pick, the team will have the option for a guaranteed fifth year. To call the numbers eye-popping would be an understatement.

The four-year $32.9 fully guaranteed contract is the third-largest in Atlanta Falcons franchise history. The only two rookies to make more money on their initial rookie deal – Matt Ryan in 2008 when he signed a six-year $67.5 million deal and in 2001 when Michael Vick signed a six-year 62.7 million rookie deal.

Atlanta Falcons made Kyle Pitts the highest-paid tight end in the NFL

Yes, you read that correctly, the Atlanta Falcons are paying Pitts a ton of money. No other tight end in the NFL has the guaranteed money remaining on their contracts that rookie Kyle Pitts just signed for. In their defense, the rookie pay scale was determined ahead of time and wasn’t something that they could negotiate.

There is a lot of pressure riding on Kyle Pitts shoulders now that the Falcons moved on from Julio Jones. Rightly or wrongly, he is going to be expected to pick up the slack vacated by Jones who averaged more than 95 yards receiving per game for his career – most in NFL history.

Everything that we have seen from Kyle Pitts – career at Florida, eye-popping pro-day workout as well as mini-camp leads us to believe that he is indeed that guy and will shock a lot of fans around the NFL with his athleticism, IQ, and football talent.

If the Falcons had to sink $32.9 million into a rookie, they could have done far worse than giving it to a guy that was the best playmaker in the 2021 NFL Draft.

No one knows how Kyle Pitts will develop but he comes into the NFL with a lot of ability and could change the tight end position like no one before him.