Kyle Pitts plays in Week 2 for the Falcons against the Panthers.
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In some ways, Kyle Pitts’ emergence as a potential trade candidate for the Atlanta Falcons before Tuesday’s NFL trading deadline was a surprise.
In other ways, though, it checks out. The Falcons had been hinting at this with their playing time decisions.
Pitts may not be traded for sure, but it sounds like it’s in play.
The Athletic’s Josh Kendall noted this in a new article after the Jessie Bates trade, writing this:
“The league’s trade deadline hits at 4 p.m. ET, and the most obvious trade candidate left on the roster is tight end Kyle Pitts, the No. 4 pick in the 2021 draft who signed a three-year, $54 million extension in the offseason. If the Falcons get an offer as good as the one they got for Bates, he could be the next player out the door.”
Bates cost a second-round pick and a fifth-round pick for the Jacksonville Jaguars to get him from the Falcons. Could Pitts command a similar cost? He’s got time left on his contract beyond this season, unlike Bates.
But whether Pitts moves or not, the Falcons have telegraphed this.
Falcons Hinted at Kyle Pitts Trade
GettyATLANTA, GEORGIA – OCTOBER 18: Kyle Pitts Sr. #8 of the Atlanta Falcons reacts after a touchdown as he is tackled by Dillon Thieneman #31 of the Chicago Bears during the fourth quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on October 18, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
The Falcons haven’t used Pitts as much in recent weeks as you’d expect from a tight end making $8 million per year.
Since Atlanta signed Nick Muse from the practice squad earlier this season, they’ve had four TEs active each week: Pitts, Muse, Charlie Woerner and Austin Hooper.
In recent weeks, Muse and Woerner have each caught a touchdown. Both have come on goal-line play action, but still — those are TDs being caught by TEs other than Pitts.
The Falcons still use Pitts, and he has a skillset none of the other tight ends do.
But it’s clear they don’t seem to mind the possibility of other options at the tight end position, either. Atlanta has some strong depth at that spot.
Will Kyle Pitts Be Traded?
Los Angeles Rams v Atlanta Falcons - NFL 2025
GettyATLANTA, GEORGIA – DECEMBER 29: Kyle Pitts Sr. #8 of the Atlanta Falcons warms up before the game against the Los Angeles Rams at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 29, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
A Pitts trade will only be known for sure by the 4 p.m. ET NFL trade deadline — and trades can be reported after that, too, as long as the league office had them by the deadline.
So by Tuesday evening, Falcons fans will know whether Pitts still plays for Atlanta.
If he doesn’t, the Falcons likely won’t fret too much. They have a bunch of tight end options.
It would just be a quiet, lame ending to Pitts’ high-potential promise that he brought to the Falcons out of Florida.
Billy Heyen Billy Heyen is a Heavy contributor with focus on the NFL and MLB. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who spent his senior year following Jim Boeheim's basketball team around the country. His reporting work has also included extensive work for The Sporting News, the Sandusky Register and Rochester's Democrat & Chronicle. Adventures in sports writing have also led to in-person coverage of the Buffalo Sabres, Cleveland Guardians, U.S. men's national soccer team and a variety of minor league baseball stories. More about Billy Heyen