Why Bengals Fans Shouldn’t Hate the Kyle Pitts-To-Cincinnati Rumors
Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
The 2021 Draft continues to live rent-free in my head, back when I was begging the Cincinnati Bengals to draft tackle Penei Sewell over Ja’Marr Chase. In the time since that debate took up most of my free time, two lessons have been learned: the Bengals would have drafted an All-Pro either way, and both Cincinnati and Detroit Lions (who landed Sewell) need to thank their lucky stars that they didn’t get the chance to draft Kyle Pitts instead.
Pitts has remained atop the Atlanta Falcons depth chart, which is about as optimistically as you can frame his career up to this point.
Kyle Pitts TD scored by season
1st 1
2nd 2
3rd 3
4th 4He is the only player EVER to score exactly 1, 2, 3 and 4 TD in his 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th NFL seasons
🤯🤯🤯 pic.twitter.com/s1jx9qkdhE
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) January 10, 2025
That was not supposed to be how Pitts’ career worked out. Analysts like Mel Kiper and his plastic hair rated Pitts as the best tight end prospect ever, and he finished the 2024 season as the 44th-highest-graded tight end by PFF. Oops.
It remains to be seen how the Falcons handle Pitts in the final year of his rookie deal. They picked up his fifth-year option prior to the season, putting him on track to make an eight-digit salary in 2025. If the Falcons decide he’s not worth keeping, ESPN’s Ben Solak believes the Bengals are a destination for the former fourth-overall pick.
“Pitts is due $10.8 million [in] the final year of his deal in 2025,” Solak said. “Can the Falcons get more for him in a trade than they would in a compensatory pick after he leaves in free agency? I think they could, as he has a rosier future on an offense that actually fits his skill set. My prediction: Pitts will get dealt to the Bengals for a Day 3 pick.”
Of course, $10.8 million is an expensive gamble for potential. but the 6-foot-6 Pitts still possesses all the physical tools in the world, the same tools that led Atlanta to draft him. Before Brock Bowers repeated the feat this season, he was the only tight end this century to top 1,000 yards in his rookie year. He hasn’t lived up to the lofty expectations that were placed on him, but it’s hard to believe that his stellar rookie year was an accident. But here Pitts is, fighting hard to beat the “bust” label.
Still, Pitts would offer Cincinnati a ceiling that’s hard to ignore. Joe Burrow has shown time and time again that tight ends can experience career years with him under center. On paper, that sounds like a match made in heaven. Especially when you take into account the very real possibility that Tee Higgins will leave for a major bag with a new team, presenting a need for a big-bodied, contested-catch weapon. In the event Higgins departs and the wide receiver market dries up before the Bengals can sign an apt replacement, Pitts could be an ideal candidate to fill the void.
The biggest thing that may stop the Bengals from acquiring Pitts would be that there may just be no room for him on the roster, both financially and on the depth chart. Mike Gesicki was one notch above Pitts in terms of production (65 catches and 665 yards for Gesicki versus 47 catches and 602 yards for Pitts), and while he’s a free agent, he’s considered a likely candidate to return in 2025.
Though, if Gesicki moves on, or the Bengals decide Pitts is an upgrade, there’s going to be more room than we thought before this week. We just found out Erick All will miss all of 2025 with the torn ACL that prematurely ended his rookie campaign. His playing time increased as his season went on, and he would have been expected to get a good amount of snaps next year.
Still, with the Bengals on good terms with Gesicki, as well as both Drew Sample and Tanner McLachlan set to return next season, trading for Pitts might not be the Bengals’ biggest priority. Considering that expensive price tag and bigger holes to fill elsewhere on the roster, acquiring Pitts may be more of a luxury move than a necessary one.
However, the potential that Pitts offers is hard to ignore. Especially given the fact that he’s in a contract year, meaning he’d have every incentive to have a gigantic year with Burrow, who could make him a perennial mismatch all over the field. And while the Bengals do have other areas to address, they also have plenty of cap space, especially with pricey veterans likely headed out. It’s hard to say what the front office decides to do in terms of bringing in new talent after a season that saw the Bengals fall below expectations, but they could do a lot worse than make a splashy move for Pitts.
After the 2024 season fell flat, the Bengals should be highly motivated to make major moves this offseason. For a team that has uncharacteristically taken several big transactional swings over the last few years, trading for Pitts is entirely within their more recent M.O. Don’t be surprised if this materializes, and don’t be disappointed if Pitts suits up in stripes next year.
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