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Atlanta Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts.

There was some hope, after the season, that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers might not have to face Atlanta Falcons tight end and noted Bucs killer Kyle Pitts twice every year moving forward.

Such was the perilous state of Pitts’ contract following the season — another lost season for 1 of the NFL’s most talented tight ends on a rudderless ship in Atlanta.

Instead, things started to turn the other way. The final, terrible news came this week — not only would the Buccaneers continue to be forced to face a player who has absolutely tortured them for years, but Pitts isn’t going anywhere, anytime soon, after signing a 3-year, $54 million contract extension on Wednesday.

“The Atlanta Falcons are staying in the Kyle Pitts business,” The Athletic’s Josh Kendall wrote on Wednesday. “Five years after making Pitts the highest-drafted tight end in NFL history, the Falcons on Tuesday re-signed the 6-foot-6, 250-pounder to a three-year, $54 million contract extension, according to his agency. Pitts is now the third-highest-paid tight end in the NFL in terms of average annual value at $18 million, behind the San Francisco 49ers’ George Kittle ($19.1 million) and the Arizona Cardinals’ Trey McBride ($19 million).”

Spotrac projected Pitts’ value at a 4-year, $43.3 million contract after he earned NFL All-Pro honors for the 1st time in 2025 — numbers he far exceeded with his new deal.

Kyle Pitts Continues to Torment Buccaneers

Pitts was never better than when he played the Buccaneers, with 11 receptions for 166 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 29-28 Falcons win in Week 15.

That kind of performance actually led many to think the Buccaneers might take a shot at Pitts had he been able to become an unrestricted free agent — something the Falcons made sure wouldn’t happen when they hit him with a franchise tag in February.

“Top free agent would’ve potentially fit a need for the Bucs under Zac Robinson but likely too expensive anyway,” Tampa Bay Times NFL reporter Rick Stroud wrote on his official X account on February 23.

Instead, the Buccaneers brought back middling starter Cade Otton at tight end on a 3-year, $30 million contract.

Teams Praying Kyle Pitts Would Hit Free Agency

ESPN’s Matt Bowen had Pitts as the No. 23 overall free agent in the 2026 cycle before news of Pitts’ franchise tag broke.

“Pitts will have options in free agency after he set career highs for receptions (88) and touchdowns (five) in 2025, but I still see a strong fit if he stays put in Atlanta under new coach Kevin Stefanski,” Bowen wrote on February 17. “With heavily defined concepts, Stefanski can set up Pitts to attack open coverage voids off play-action and also create isolation matchups.”

Playing with 2 different, erratic starting quarterbacks in Michael Penix Jr. and Kirk Cousins in 2025, the 6-foot-6, 250-pound Pitts had 88 receptions for 928 yards and 5 touchdowns on the way to earning NFL All-Pro honors for the first time. It was his best season since he had 68 receptions for 1,028 yards and 1 touchdown in a Pro Bowl rookie season in 2021.

Pitts, 25 years old, became the highest drafted tight end in NFL history when the Falcons selected him at No. 4 overall in the 2021 NFL draft after he won the Mackey Award at the University of Florida. He solidified his draft stock after he ran the 40-yard dash in a mind-altering 4.40 seconds at the NFL scouting combine.