Falcons franchise tagging Kyle Pitts Sr. ‘makes all the sense in the world’

Yahoo Sports NFL analyst Nate Tice is joined by fantasy analyst Matt Harmon to react to the Atlanta Falcons giving TE Kyle Pitts Sr. the franchise tag. Check out the full conversation on “Football 301” – and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.

Video Transcript

The Falcons have decided to franchise Kyle Pitts, tight end, which makes all the sense in the world.

that cap figure will be in somewhere in the mid-teens.

If I remember off the top of my head, that cap figure for the franchise tag.

I’m- Four, about 15 million-ish?

I think 15 sounds right, yep.

15, 16, something like that.

Yeah, so that is, I think, an expected decision.

You wanna keep that kind of core trio of skill guys that they have there, and I mean, also, like, who else are you gonna pick?

but, but Drake London, Kyle Pitts, and of course, Bijan Robinson, that’s the engine.

And whoever they want to make at quarterback, whatever their decision is, this is only gonna help them.

But Kyle Pitts, still a Falcon, at least right now.

Looks like for next year, whatever happens with extensions.

What do you think about this, Matt?

They were one of the teams that saw the biggest shift in terms of, like, their decrease in plays with three-plus receivers on the field to more heavy personnel packages last year.

They ran a lot of 12 personnel last year- Yeah did the Atlanta Falcons, and of course, new coaching staff with Kevin Stefanski and Tommy Rees coming in, but those guys were also very 12 personnel heavy.

So it makes sense to invest in that position.

I wouldn’t actually be surprised if they make another tight end investment somewhere along the way, like David Njoku, who’s a free agent- coming from Cleveland.

I still, ’cause- Oh, great call get somebody that’s more like an inline guy, because Pitts, like Well, we saw it last year when he really had his 2.0 breakout kind of year.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I mean, it’s hard to say he broke out last year, because he had this great rookie season- Yeah but he’s just had a bizarre career, which is why I think he makes sense as a franchise tag guy anyways.

I, I would, probably would just let him play on the tag.

Yeah.

Even if he doesn’t like it, I probably would let him play on the tag and see how that goes.

Like, because he’s, he’s, like I said, very up-and-down career- but great rookie season, and then at the end of this past year, he mostly popped off once Drake London went down.

Right.

And I still think that’s gonna be something they have to figure out in this offense, is how can we get both of those guys activated at the same time?

Which I do think is easier said than done, because Ky- Kyle Pitts is a tight end kind of in name only.

He is a movement player, but this coaching staff has experience with a guy like that in Harold Fannin last year.

Yep.

Well, I think he’s probably a little bit better of a blocker than he’s credited for, but still is somebody that, like, you wanna move around, detach from the formation, just like you will with Pitts.

But Drake London’s a guy that is best activated when he’s moving around- Right.

Yes as that guy that’s a power slot, but also kind of a movement Z type.

So how they figure that out will be fascinating, especially because we also probably need to extend Drake London here pretty soon- Yeah as well.

He, he’s certainly eligible for that.

Falcons franchise tagging Kyle Pitts Sr. ‘makes all the sense in the world’

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