Why Falcons gave Kyle Pitts the franchise tag: Want ‘more time to evaluate’

INDIANAPOLIS — The Falcons’ decision to believe, and invest, in tight end Kyle Pitts boiled down to a question that had been percolating in general manager Ian Cunningham’s mind in recent weeks.

“How are we going to be able to keep a player of his caliber,” Cunningham said, “and make sure we could use the league’s mechanisms in order to do so?”

The answer made itself evident. Cunningham, who spoke Tuesday morning at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, confirmed the Falcons will use the franchise tag on Pitts.

It’s a pricey investment — OverTheCap projects Pitts’ franchise tag value at $16.319 million — but one Cunningham said he’s confident is the right move for the Falcons, who were forced to act fast with only four weeks separating Cunningham’s introduction and the tag deadline.

“It’s the time frame, I guess, that we have here, where you get hired and then you have to make a big decision like that,” Cunningham told reporters. “I just felt it was in the best interest of us to use the franchise tag on him now to allow us more time to evaluate and see things forward.”

Pitts is only the fourth player in Falcons history to receive the franchise tag and the first since defensive tackle Grady Jarrett in 2019.

The Falcons’ new brass, spearheaded by Cunningham and head coach Kevin Stefanski, have spent much of the past month watching film — on their new team, looming free agents and most of the NFL Combine participants.

But decisions like Pitts and the franchise tag required immediate attention. The Falcons collaboratively put their heads together and immersed themselves in “tough discussions about roster decisions,” Stefanski said. The conversations pushed the Falcons toward Pitts.

Cunningham said he spoke with Pitts and his agent, David Mulugheta, to share the Falcons’ thoughts and inform them of the team’s direction.

The Falcons didn’t want to lose Pitts, but they also didn’t have enough time to formalize a long-term plan. The franchise tag offered a solution to both issues.

“This is a way for us to use the mechanisms that are provided by the league to allow ourselves a little bit more time to evaluate,” Cunningham said Tuesday on 92.9 The Game. “We didn’t want him to go into free agency next week. We’re not in a business of letting go (of) really good players.

“Again, it just buys us a little bit more time to make some decisions and evaluate the roster and him as a whole.”

Cunningham emphasized the importance of another year spent evaluating Pitts, whose first five seasons in Atlanta netted mixed returns.

The highest-drafted tight end in NFL history at No. 4 overall in 2021, Pitts made the Pro Bowl as a rookie after catching 68 passes for 1,026 yards, the second-most all time by a rookie tight end.

Cunningham said he still vividly remembers the moment Pitts’ trajectory flipped. Then the Chicago Bears’ assistant general manager, Cunningham watched as Pitts suffered a season-ending knee injury against the Bears in Week 11 of the 2022 season.

Pitts spent the next two seasons “trying to come back from those injuries,” Cunningham said Tuesday morning, and his productivity dwindled. From 2022 to 2024, Pitts caught 128 passes for 1,625 yards and nine touchdowns, and he inspired enough confidence for the previous Falcons regime to pick up his fifth-year option in the summer of 2024.

The 6-foot-6, 250-pound Pitts enjoyed a resurgent 2025 campaign. He set career highs with 88 catches and five touchdowns to go along with 928 yards en route to a second-team All-Pro nod.

“He put together a really nice season last year,” Cunningham said.

The Falcons say they hope Pitts can replicate his success moving forward. Stefanski has the track record to help maximize his potential.

Stefanski doesn’t consider himself a tight end whisperer, merely an aficionado of the position he first coached in the NFL. After eight years as a secondary assistant, he became the Minnesota Vikings’ tight ends coach in 2014, and the position has held a special place for him since.

Stefanski said he loves the position and the versatility it offers. Tight ends that can align anywhere — be it outside, in the backfield or attached to the line of scrimmage — can make life difficult for opposing defenses, he said.

So can Pitts.

“Obviously, Kyle’s a guy that I think very highly of, both professionally and personally,” Stefanski said Tuesday in Indianapolis. “So, excited to work with him. Obviously, his talent is evident. You can see it on tape and what he’s been able to do in his career to date. So, a guy we’re excited to work with.”

Cunningham said he believes the tight end position will continue to grow moving forward because of the flexibility it provides offenses. And when teams have players such as Pitts, Cunningham said it helps the offense dictate terms for the defense, forcing opponents to decide between their base or nickel personnel groupings.

The Falcons, now as much financially as verbally, say they are intrigued by the value and upside Pitts provides. Stefanski and Cunningham are still in the early stages of building relationships with players, and Cunningham said he’s primarily had to do so through texts and phone calls.

But the Falcons were intentionally transparent in their communication with Pitts and his representation. Cunningham noted the trio atop the organization — himself, Stefanski and president of football Matt Ryan — have made it a point to be open in their conversations with players over the past month.

Thus, the Falcons have no concerns Pitts will be frustrated or upset he won’t get the chance to see the free agency market.