The Atlanta Falcons have doubled down on their belief in Kyle Pitts, but the wider question is whether Arthur Smith’s former team is still paying premium prices for players who have yet to prove enough on the biggest stage. Over the past six weeks, the Falcons handed out expensive extensions to Pitts and Matthew Bergeron while continuing to live with the reality of the second-longest active playoff drought.
In June, Pitts signed a contract averaging $18 million annually, making him the third-highest-paid TE in the league. It is a striking figure for a player whose value has often been debated, and it has only sharpened the focus on how the Falcons are building their roster.
The Falcons' blind spot
The criticism is not simply about one contract. It is about a pattern. The Falcons have spent heavily while still searching for the kind of consistency that turns near-misses into wins, and the argument is that the organization has an ongoing blind spot to its own shortcomings.
That matters because Pitts’ best seasons came when Atlanta had limited alternatives at wide receiver. In 2021, Calvin Ridley stepped away from the team after five games, and Russell Gage became the team’s top wideout. In that kind of environment, Pitts had a clearer route to being central in the passing game. The concern now is that the Falcons have rewarded him at a level that suggests certainty, even though the broader evidence remains mixed.
Why the spending raises eyebrows
The Falcons are not short of notable names around their passing attack. Drake London has been the focal point at times, while Darnell Mooney, Ray-Ray McCloud, KhaDarel Hodge, Michael Pittman, Romeo Doubs, Wan’Dale Robinson, Brock Bowers, Tucker Kraft, George Kittle and Sam LaPorta all sit in the wider conversation around how teams value playmakers and tight ends. But the Atlanta argument is different: it is about whether the club is paying top-end money before the results justify it.
There is also the timing to consider. In 2025, London was most limited by a knee injury and missed the final seven games, which only underlines how quickly a roster can lose its shape. The Falcons have already spent time without reliable alternatives, and that is exactly why the latest extensions have been viewed by some as expensive commitments rather than clear answers.
For Arthur Smith, the lesson is familiar even if the circumstances have changed. When a team is chasing a breakthrough, the market can force difficult decisions. But paying elite money for players who are still being asked to prove they can carry the load is a gamble, especially for a franchise still trying to end a long wait for postseason success.
The Falcons will argue that this is how ambitious teams operate: identify talent, commit early and trust the plan. Critics will point to the record and ask whether the plan is truly closing the gap or simply making the same problems more expensive. That is the tension now surrounding Pitts, Bergeron and the organization as a whole.
