Through a four-year, $141 million deal with Drake London, the Atlanta Falcons extended the first piece of their holy trinity on the offensive side of the ball. But after giving London $100 million guaranteed and $35.25 million a year, it may make paying the other two guys tougher on the Falcons.
They have London locked up though 2030, but Atlanta still has to agree to extensions with Bijan Robinson and Kyle Pitts before the summer ends. New GM Ian Cunningham has expressed the value in developing and retaining talent, but does he really want to commit top money to all three of them?
Financially speaking, the Falcons have enough money to extend all three of Bijan, London, and Pitts, so that's not the issue here. They basically have an entirely clean 2027 cap table, but an odd man out is starting to surface in this equation, and frankly, I think we all know who will draw the short straw.
Kyle Pitts is skating on thin ice after the Falcons extended Drake London
It feels inevitable that Bijan will eventually get his much-deserved payday from the Falcons, but paying Pitts is far more contentious. It feels like only a matter of time before the former sends the existing running back market into another universe, and that's a move nobody should or will question.
The debate between paying Pitts is more divided. The 25-year-old had a career year in 2025, logging career-bests in both catches and touchdowns. But he hasn't displayed any semblance of consistency across his five seasons in Atlanta, which makes paying him top-of-market money a bigger gamble.
We know who the Florida Gator is at this point. He's a tight end with all of the physical gifts in the world, but that's it. Many of the other supposedly generational TE prospects like Brock Bowers and Tyler Warren proved they belonged immediately, while he's never been able to truly put it together.
The former top-five pick was franchise tagged this offseason, and he's set to be the NFL's highest-paid TE while making just over $15 million in 2026. Committing to that for a year to see if he can build on his breakout year is fine, but extending him before you know which Pitts shows up in 2026 is risky.
Trade speculation around the former Mackey Award winner heated up earlier this offseason, but if the Falcons were going to tag and trade him, they would've done it before the 2026 Draft when his value was higher. And as far as an extension goes, they seem okay letting him play out the year on the tag.
He could very well prove me wrong and thrive in Atlanta's new TE-friendly system, especially since Kevin Stefanski has praised him throughout OTAs. But success in May means nothing in September, so until he shows some consistency, he should be at the bottom of the Falcons' extension totem pole.
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