The Denver Broncos are 2-2 with a rookie quarterback in Bo Nix. Their defense is among the top units in the NFL through four weeks. However, the offense has left points on the field and a trade could give them a needed boost.
Nix set a record for the fewest yards per attempt in Week 4 versus the New York Jets. Another high-end contributor could be a solution.
“Lots of Broncos fans are asking about Amari Cooper as a trade target (I sincerely doubt it)… I’d be looking at Atlanta and Kyle Pitts, personally,” KOA’s Benjamin Allbright posted on X on September 30.
Pitts is a polarizing player. He is the highest-drafted tight end in NFL history, taken by the Falcons with the No. 4 overall pick of the 2021 draft.
“Pitts has had a couple of rough seasons and isn’t off to a hot start this year. However, he can be a dynamic playmaker at the position and a piece that Sean Payton likes to have in his offense. Pitts is a dynamic athlete who can create all kinds of mismatches and fill the role that the Broncos wanted Greg Dulcich to develop into but has failed to do so,” Sports Illustrated’s Chad Jensen and Erick Trickel wrote on October 1.
“While he isn’t a blocker, and Pitts can be as a traditional Y tight end, you can move him around the formation. The Broncos need that dynamic playmaker on offense to help out a passing game that has been rough to start the season.”
Kyle Pitts Could Make Dynamic Trade Target for Broncos
The Broncos are seventh in passing attempts but 27th in yards and 32nd in passing touchdowns on the season. Dulcich and his fellow tight ends have 8 catches for 47 yards on 17 targets combined so far.
The 6-foot-6, 246-pound tight end is also in the final year of a four-year, $32.9 million contract and has his $10 million fifth-year option on the books in 2025.
Pitts could fill the dynamic “joker role” in the Broncos’ offense.
It is a role the head coach projected Dulcich for and one for which Pitts may be perfectly suited. He would get the ball in his hands in creative ways, allowing him to utilize his unique athletic traits.
Pitts was also drafted by a previous regime and the current one is not overly concerned with his statistical production.
Kyle Pitts Trending Downward With Falcons
Pitts made the Pro Bowl as a rookie with 68 receptions, 1,026 yards, and 1 touchdown. But he posted an 81-1023-5 line over 27 games in the 2022 and 2023 seasons. He has 8 catches for 105 yards and 1 score through four weeks in 2024.
He failed to haul in any of his three targets in the Falcons’ win over the New Orleans Saints in Week 4 and is posting what would be the lowest grade of his career from Pro Football Focus.
Falcons head coach Raheem Morris is not worried about Pitts’ lack of production so far.
“Those things are always unfortunate,” Morris told reporters on September 29 about Pitts’ stat line versus the Saints. “But really for me, man, stats are for losers, man. I don’t get involved in that stuff. But you go out there, you try to win each game. And we were able to win it today, and that’s what we did.”
Payton’s offenses have made stars of tight ends converted from other positions before like Jimmy Graham. Pitts would be the most talented prospect the head coach has had at the position since the five-time Pro Bowler retired if the Broncos acquired him in a trade.
