Kyle Pitts just got paid, which means we are about to do the same thing we do every summer. Everyone is going to talk themselves into the idea that this is finally the year. The Falcons gave him real money, he is still young, he has all the athletic tools, and last season was good enough on paper for people to pretend the breakout finally happened. I get it. It is very easy to look at the contract and say Atlanta must know something. Maybe they do. But that does not mean I need to be the one holding the bag in fantasy.
The issue with Pitts has never really been whether he is talented. Of course he is talented. That is why people keep falling for it. The issue is that he has been better as an idea than he has been as an actual weekly fantasy player. You draft him thinking you are getting some cheat-code tight end who moves like a receiver, and then half the season you are staring at a 4-for-42 box score wondering why you did this again. That is the Kyle Pitts experience. Enough flashes to keep you interested, not enough consistency to actually feel good about it.
Last season is going to be the main selling point, but I am not buying that either. Yes, the final numbers looked solid. But a huge part of the shine came from one monster game against Tampa Bay where he went completely nuclear. Great game. Awesome for anyone who had him that week. But one blow-up game does not suddenly erase years of frustration. That was not a full-season breakout. That was a twinkle in the sky. Nice to look at, easy to remember, and probably not something you should build your draft around.
The touchdown problem is still the part that scares me the most. Even in the season people are going to use as proof that he turned the corner, the scoring was still not reliable. He had five touchdowns, and three of them came in that one Tampa game. So outside of that, you were mostly dealing with the same weekly headache. A tight end who can give you yards here and there, but not someone you can count on to actually separate you from the rest of your league. In fantasy, that matters. I do not want to spend a meaningful pick on a tight end who needs the perfect game script just to make me feel smart.
The contract also does not magically fix his role. The Falcons still have Drake London. They still have Bijan Robinson. This offense does not need to run through Pitts for it to be good. That is the disconnect. Atlanta can value him as a real-life player and still not make him the fantasy weapon people want him to be. Teams pay for talent, upside, and matchup problems. Fantasy managers need weekly points. Those are not always the same thing.
So yes, Kyle Pitts got paid. Good for him. I still think he is one of the easiest bust calls of the season because the price is going to be based on the dream, not the reality. Someone in every draft is going to convince themselves they are getting the breakout before everyone else sees it. Let them. I am not drafting the contract, the draft pedigree, or one big game from last season. I am drafting the player who has to help me win every week, and Pitts has given me way too many reasons to believe the hype will be better than the production.