The Athletic’s Josh Kendall believes franchise-tagging Kyle Pitts “makes the most sense” for the Falcons.

10 February 2026

Kendall notes that he believes Pitts is “likely to remain in Atlanta” either way, but that with the new executives and head coaches mostly not commenting on him, it would give everyone a year involved to see how good Pitts can be in Kevin Stefanski’s offense. The franchise tag for tight ends is not exorbitant, and Kendall notes that Pitts’ agent would likely ask for at least the tag (a little over $16.3 million) in average annual value anyway.