With rumours that the Atlanta Falcons could be open to trading tight end Kyle Pitts, we run through the options of where the uber-talented, under-utilized pass catcher could end up from a fantasy perspective in 2025.
New England Patriots
Simply put, New England will take a step forward this year, but haven’t cracked open their window to compete quite yet. With Austin Hooper and Hunter Henry both in their 30’s, and set to come off the books in the next 2 seasons, Pitts would be an intriguing addition to a young Patriots core.
The 24 year old has an All-Pro ceiling, but, for whatever reason, has become an afterthought in Atlanta’s offensive schemes since joining the league in 2021. Both Hooper and Henry are serviceable pass catchers, but neither can take the top off a defence, where as the 6’6″ ultra-athletic Pitts could become a Red Zone favourite of Drake Maye in the coming years.
That being said, because the position room is crowded at best in Foxborough, a trade to New England likely makes more real life impact than it does in the fantasy world. At least for 2025 that is.
2025 Impact: C+
Washington Commanders
Everything we just said about New England can pretty much be said about Washington as well. Crowded tight end room? Check. Aging tight end about to come off the books? Check. Dynamic young quarterback? Check.
The difference here however is that Washington seems to be a step ahead of New England in their rebuild, as evidenced by their surprise run to the NFC Championship game last season. The front office responded in kind by making a flurry of “win now” moves in the offseason, and appears to be banking on Jayden Daniels continued progress to ensure that 2024 was no fluke.
Zach Ertz was the Commanders 2nd leading receiver last season with 66 catches and 7 touchdowns. But the soon to be 35 year old has visibly lost a step since his Eagles Pro Bowl days, and could likely benefit from having another talented pass catcher on the field, regardless of position.
Offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury has long been an advocate for getting his best players on the field, rather than trying to move people around to fit a specific offensive set. So if he were to move here, expect the Commanders, who were a near perfect 50/50 run to pass split last year (526 rushes, 525 passes) to get a little more pass happy this season.
2025 Impact: B-
Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh has made no effort to hide the fact that they remain in the market for additional pass catchers beyond DK Metcalf. The Steelers entire offseason has been one of the most bizarre sagas in recent football history, as it seems as though the front office is having a power struggle as to whether they should tank or try to keep Tomlin’s streak alive.
How else do you explain the fact that they still have no quarterback, traded away their top receiver in George Pickens, are continually linked to Aaron Rodgers, but are trying to act as buyers in the NFL pass catching market. There’s an entire column to be written about their asset management this year but we’re here to talk about Kyle Pitts for now.
Would Pitts have any competition for targets beyond Metcalf in Pittsburgh? As currently constructed, it certainly doesn’t appear so, unless you’re one of the few Calvin Austin truthers out there. So that would certainly be a plus for the former Florida Gator.
But who would throw him the ball? Right now it would be the winner of the Mason Rudolph, Will Howard, Skylar Thompson rock fight for QB1 duties. And frankly, none of those sound like appealing options.
If Rodgers comes back for his age 42 season, is that much better? Or would the deal to acquire Pitts also involve the suddenly out of a job Kirk Cousins as well? If that happens, I’m not sure the two suddenly develop new found chemistry in the Steel City after failing to get on the same page in Atlanta.
For all those reasons and more, this could be a doomsday scenario for Pitts if he winds up donning the black and yellow in the Burgh.
2025 Impact: F
Los Angeles Rams
Tyler Higbee is 32 and entering the final year of his contract. Terrance Ferguson is a similar frame to Pitts, but still unproven at the NFL level.
With Matthew Stafford signing what may end up being his final NFL contract this offseason, the Rams are 100% all in over the next two seasons. So on paper, buying low on a young, mega-upside tight end who can be inserted into the line up and make an impact on Day 1 makes a ton of sense.
However, there’s suddenly a lot of mouths to feed in LA on offence. Not only is there Puka Nacua, who averaged 7.18 catches per game in 2024, but there’s also now Davante Adams added to the mix as well. Sprinkle in Kyren Williams and Blake Corum in the backfield, and Tutu Atwell in the slot (who Sean McVay has been talking up to anyone who will listen this offseason) and you can make the argument that the situation isn’t all that different from what Pitts has seen in Atlanta.
The counter to that is that Stafford has displayed the ability to spread the ball around to multiple receivers, and is respected enough in the league to quiet any grumbles about targets in the locker room so long as the team keeps winning. Even at his advanced age, he remains a step above Michael Penix Jr., Kirk Cousins, Taylor Heinicke, Desmond Ridder, Marcus Mariota, and the corpse of Matt Ryan in his final season in Atlanta.
2025 Impact: B+
Dallas Cowboys
Jerry Jones has been eerily quiet this offseason. With roughly $30M still to spare in cap space, the Cowboys could get creative with any potential deals, and then extend Pitts as well.
Micah Parsons’ brother already lobbied for Dallas to make a deal for Pitts. And though he’s been serviceable, it’s not like Jake Ferguson has been lighting the world on fire at tight end these days. With Pickens and Ceedee Lamb at receiver, Pitts could take the Cowboys passing game to another level in 2025.
Dallas has traditionally liked to lean on the run in the past. But with another year of what appears to be running back by committee shaping up (take your pick of Javonte Williams, Jaydon Blue, Miles Sanders, Phil Mafah, or Deuce Vaughn to lead the ground attack), Dak Prescott & Co. could take to the air for a pass happy offence this season.
And if that happens, this could be the breakout season that Pitts fantasy owners have long been waiting for.
2025 Impact: A-
New York Giants
This one feels more like Giants fans trying to will this into existence more than something that’s likely to happen. New York lacks both the draft capital (they still have a number of roster needs so they can’t be throwing away draft picks willy nilly) and cap space (per Over the Cap, the Giants are quite literally still “over the cap” by $4.5M at the moment) to be able to realistically pull this off.
But if they did, it would make for a solid core of Jaxson Dart, Malik Nabers and Pitts to excite the Big Blue faithful. Not to mention that it would help Russell Wilson in the immediate future by giving him a safety valve for an offence that lacks dynamic playmakers.
If New England was a better real life fit than fantasy fit, then New York is the polar opposite. For fantasy purposes it would be huge boost to Pitts’ dynasty stock. For real life purposes, there seem to be too many dominoes that would need to fall in order for this to come to fruition.
Good thing all we’re talking about is fantasy here though…
2025 Impact: B+
Jacksonville Jaguars
If Dart, Nabers, and Pitts sounded like an enticing Big 3 for New York, then Travis Hunter, Brian Thomas Jr, and Pitts would really get Jags fans going in Duval this season.
The Jags are pot committed to Trevor Lawrence at this point, having just given him a 5 year, $275M contract. You can argue whether he’s worth that much money, just hasn’t had the right systems around him yet, or is a product of the market rate for franchise QBs. But at the end of the day, Jacksonville will need him to take a step forward if they’re going to compete in the suddenly frisky AFC South.
This one checks several real life boxes, as it would be a homecoming of sorts for Pitts heading back to the Sunshine State, while new GM James Gladstone gets his replacement for Evan Engram who the team released in March.
Engram produced a Pro Bowl season for Jacksonville in 2023, when he was a PPR monster, hauling in 114 catches on 145 targets for 963 yards and 4 TDs. Injuries limited him to just 9 games in 2024 but he still averaged 5.22 catches per game, so needless to say, Lawrence likes his tight ends.
Jacksonville paid a pretty penny to move up and draft Hunter this spring, so they don’t exactly have a treasure trove of draft picks kicking around. But if this were to materialize it would definitely represent an upgrade over his current situation in Atlanta.
2025 Impact: A-
Los Angeles Chargers
Head coach Jim Harbaugh was fairly open in his desire to draft a tight end this spring at the NFL Draft. But with Colston Loveland going off the board to Chicago 10th overall, and Tyler Warren getting scooped up by Indianapolis 4 picks later, the Chargers had to pivot to the run game, selecting Omarion Hampton at 21.
The team would go on to take Oronde Gadsden II in the 5th round, and already have veterans Will Dissly and Tyler Conklin under contract. So the fit isn’t exactly seamless.
HOWEVER, with an offensive line of Rashawn Slater, Zion Johnson, Bradley Bozeman, Mekhi Becton, and Joe Alt, if Pitts were to land in LA, fantasy owners could finally forget about having to worry how many pass blocking assignments Pitts would have for the first time in his career. It would give fans their first true glimpse at what Pitts is or is not capable of doing offensively at the NFL level.
More so than that, it could also answer the ongoing question of whether Justin Herbert is truly an elite quarterback in the NFL, satisfying two ongoing debates at once. The advanced stat crew will gush ad nauseam over Herbert’s game, but that’s yet to translate to fantasy football success for managers.
And with the wide receiver room filled with veterans whose best days are likely behind them (Mike Williams, Jalen Reagor), young up and coming pass catchers (Ladd McConkey, Tre Harris), and the Jekyll and Hyde show that is Quentin Johnston, there could be plenty of targets to go around for a dynamic pass catching tight end.
There’s a $1.5M dead cap out after this season in Dissly’s contract, and Conklin is only on a 1 year deal. If for no other reason than to finally put to bed the “How good is Justin Herbert?” and “Is Kyle Pitts a bust?” talks, LA needs to make this happen.
2025 Impact: A
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: Atlanta Falcons. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.