The Atlanta Falcons didn't just extend Kyle Pitts for Kyle Pitts' sake. Signing him to a three-year, $54 million contract extension that'll make him the third-highest paid tight end in the NFL is betting on who Pitts can become, especially after the way he finally turned a corner down the stretch in 2025.
The Falcons are making it clear that Pitts is a player they want in their long-term plans, even if the road has been bumpy at times. They want him to remain the security blanket of whoever their franchise quarterback will be, and that sounds like it may morph into good news for Michael Penix Jr.
It's no secret Penix's favorite target is Drake London, but the more elite-level talent he has at his disposal, the better. Kevin Stefanski's system is a better fit for what he's capable of, and they're banking on him to turn a corner surrounded by the elite weapons the Falcons already have in place.
Michael Penix Jr. is a big winner of the Falcons extending Kyle Pitts
The 26-year-old is in the midst of rehabbing from a partially-torn ACL suffered in November, which is also his third ACL tear in the last seven years. And even once he is cleared for full contact in training camp, he'll have to duke it out with Tua Tagovailoa to be Atlanta's Week 1 starting QB in Pittsburgh.
While Penix has been ramping up in his recovery, Tua has taken advantage of the additional QB1 reps. He was one of the standouts of mandatory minicamp for the Dirty Birds, and the better he looks, the more he pulls away. And that's becoming a hole the third-year man will have to dig himself out of in training camp.
If the Falcons didn't believe in their quarterback room, they wouldn't be paying Pitts $18 million a year through 2028. They could've traded him. They could've let him walk in free agency and picked up a comp pick. But they know they have two signal-callers who deserve a chance to turn things around.
The 2024 first-round pick is approaching a crossroads in his NFL career, and Atlanta wants someone like Kyle Pitts to help him out of it. They spent most of last offseason building a rapport, and developed an early chemistry last year. He just didn't hyper-target Pitts in the way Kirk Cousins did.
Meanwhile, the former top-five pick is still hoping to prove he actually deserves his payday. He's hoping to prove his performance in 2025 was no flash in the pan, as paying him $18 million a year after a career year is a decision that has been met with widespread skepticism from most fans.
Between the weapons and a better coaching staff, the Atlanta Falcons have the support system in place once they do find their franchise quarterback. The only thing that remains to be seen is whether or not that's Penix, Tagovailoa, or someone else entirely.
The new regime's shared belief in both Michael Penix Jr. and Kyle Pitts could be brings out the best in both of them, but the most important part is that MPJ can learn from this. For all of his struggles, he now knows that big season could be the turning point for saving his future in Atlanta.
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