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Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff Writer
The Atlanta Falcons have picked up their fifth-year contract option on tight end Kyle Pitts, a source told ESPN’s Field Yates on Monday.
The option, for the 2025 season, carries a guaranteed salary of $10.878 million. Pitts was the No. 4 overall pick in the 2021 draft out of the University of Florida.
Pitts, 23, started all but two games in 2023, catching 53 passes for 667 yards and three touchdowns on a team that had “deficient” quarterback play, according to Falcons owner Arthur Blank.
That came after a torn MCL ended Pitts’ 2022 season in Week 11.
He was named to the Pro Bowl in his rookie season when he had 68 receptions for 1,026 yards and a touchdown. Pitts became the only rookie tight end in NFL history other than Mike Ditka to surpass 1,000 receiving yards and the first rookie tight end since Jeremy Shockey in 2002 to make the Pro Bowl.
Atlanta addressed their quarterback position this offseason by signing Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract and drafting Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth overall pick in last week’s draft.
The Falcons hired coach Raheem Morris, the former defensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams, in January. The Falcons’ new offensive coordinator is Zac Robinson, a former Rams assistant.