There aren't many players in the NFL who deserve a big-money extension more than Kyle Pitts does. The sheer amount of adversity he has been through through his first five NFL seasons is second to none, and former Atlanta Falcons' GM Terry Fontenot is incredibly proud of him for overcoming that.
During a guest interview on Good Morning Football on Wednesday morning, Fontenot was asked about his thoughts on new Falcons' general manager Ian Cunningham using the franchise tag on Pitts, and he struggled to hide his pride in his first-ever draft pick as Atlanta's GM on his accomplishments.
Not only were Falcons fans able to catch a glimpse of PItts' college jersey framed in his office, he also had the college jerseys of Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and Drake London framed. That's proof of a guy who truly loved this team, even though the Dirty Birds were never that successful with him at GM.
Beyond that sentimental easter egg, Fontenot revealed that he thinks that "the arrow is pointing up" surrounding the 25-year-old, and his assessment could not be more spot-on. He's seen a lot of different versions of Kyle Pitts over the years, but the 2025 iteration has to be the best version yet.
Terry Fontenot's message to Kyle Pitts on Good Morning Football will tug on your heartstrings
Frankly, the 45-year-old makes a strong point about the Florida product. Pitts doesn't turn 26 until October, so he has plenty of good football left in the tank. He dealt with injury woes and QB turnover over the years, but Fontenot doesn't see those setbacks as an indictment on Pitts as a player.
He was heralded as a generational tight end prospect coming out of college, and in 2025, we saw why. After a 1,000-yard rookie year, we finally saw him look like a guy who once took the SEC by storm as he caught a career-high 88 passes for 928 yards, and his five touchdowns also were a career best.
I get the apprehension on awarding him a lucrative long-term contract extension, but Pitts was always talented enough to be capable of producing like this. Unfortunately he was a bit of a late bloomer, but now that we've seen what he can be when utilized correctly in this offense, he needs to be extended despite that $15 million price tag.
And with the tight end enthusiast Kevin Stefanski coming to town, Fontenot knows his best is yet to come. It was nice to hear his perspective on things, but franchise tagging him isn't the end of the battle. Until he puts pen to paper on an extension, the speculation on his future won't come to an end.
Honestly, I wish it didn't end this way with Fontenot, but the NFL is a business. He seems like a really good guy, so it's a shame things didn't work out, even though I do think the Falcons are in a better position with Cunningham and Matt Ryan calling the shots entering this new era in Atlanta.