The Atlanta Falcons are putting Ian Cunningham in a difficult predicament in his first offseason as GM. The Falcons have to get extensions done with Drake London, Bijan Robinson, and Kyle Pitts, so while all of them are key to Atlanta's future on offense, someone has to be the low man on the totem pole.
And by the looks of it, Pitts is that man. During league meetings, where Cunningham set the record straight on a London extension, he had little to say about the 25-year-old's own extension progress. And I think that's because they seem content letting Pitts play out the season on the franchise tag.
Cunningham mentioned that extension talks with London are "on top of mind", but said that extension talks with London and Bijan will start to take shape after the NFL Draft. So while Atlanta's two other star weapons are likely to ink new contracts in the coming months, Pitts still has a lot more to prove.
The Atlanta Falcons are putting Kyle Pitts extension talks on the back-burner
Not only do Cunningham's words confirm Pitts is the least priority, it's clear they want to see more from him before agreeing to a new deal. His breakout 2025 was a major step in the right direction, but the Dirty Birds need to see if he can stack two straight elite seasons before paying him big money.
The Florida product logged career highs in receptions (88) and touchdowns (5) in a breakout season where he stepped up as Kirk Cousins' favorite target while London was hurt. He finally looked like the player we expected when the Falcons drafted him fourth overall in 2021, but was it too little too late?
His entire tenure in Atlanta has been defined by inconsistency, so fans know to count their blessings right now. Paying him between $12 and $15 million a year after one good season is textbook ineptitude, so it's worth seeing how he'll fare in Kevin Stefanski's TE-friendly system in 2026 before.
Thankfully, the Falcons have enough 2026 cap space to get deals done with all three of them, but if any deals will to slip through the tracks, it's Pitts. There have been some rumors that he may get traded, and while it fits Cunningham's MO, I doubt that this will happen any time before the season unless he is blown away by an offer.
Even though London and Bijan are going to be more expensive to retain, they're both considerably more important to the Atlanta offense. The Falcons have less time to extend the former, while they need to extend the latter before the RB market resets. There is no incentive to get a deal done now.
Hopefully they get a deal with Pitts done at some point, but Cunningham is doing what any reasonable general manager would do in his shoes, even if it isn't a popular choice.