Two reasons why the Titans won’t even consider Kyle Pitts in free agency for Cam Ward, and money isn’t one of them

Could Kyle Pitts be the next Titans free agent addition?

Easton Freeze — Tennessee Titans Beat Writer
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Anybody watch Thursday Night Football in Week 15?

If you did, you know that we were all treated to one of the most wonderful features of December in the NFL: disgusting matchups that randomly turn into riveting barn-burners. I don’t know why it happens. But it always does. The Titans and Browns in Week 14 were a prime example of this. That was the first NFL game since 2006 with a total under 35 that combined for 60+ points.

Week 15 kicked off with a bang when the Kirk Cousins-led Falcons went down to Tampa Bay and upset their divisional foe. This game was ridiculous. The Falcons committed fifteen (15!) more penalties than the Buccaneers and were down 14 points in the fourth quarter, but came back to win on a walk-off field goal anyways.

And the star of the night was TE Kyle Pitts, who had one of the best single-game tight end performances in NFL history. He went for 166 yards on 11 catches and found the endzone 3 times. It was a career night for the fifth year, former 4th overall draft pick. And in just a few short weeks, he’s scheduled to become a free agent.

Enter: the Tennessee Titans. They’ll be in the discussion for pretty much every non-QB free agent this year because they have money to burn. Projected to have the most cap space in the league, they have to spend the minimum requirement somewhere. And with TE Chig Okonkwo set to be a free agent himself, it’s likely the Titans sign another tight end or two. Could Pitts be a target?

Two reasons the Titans are unlikely to sign Kyle Pitts

At the risk of betraying the headline of this article, I seriously doubt the Titans under Mike Borgonzi are going to be interested in signing Pitts to the deal he’s projected to get regardless of how much spending money they have. Spotrac has his market value set at $11.8 million, projecting a 4yr/$47M deal.

But there are two reasons why I don’t think they’ll be interested that are more important. The first is his injury history. Yes, Pitts looked phenomenal in primetime this week. Unstoppable, even. In fact, he’s looked great three games in a row now. Backup QB Kirk Cousins has done wonders for his usage, for whatever reason. But even if he closes out the year at this same level of play, the Titans won’t let 6 great weeks erase 3+ years of disappointing and inconsistent play.

Pitts is a Ferrari when he’s on. It’s what got him picked in the top five in the first place. But he’s been a relative afterthought for much of his career because he’s incredibly streaky. Why? Health, mostly. And if the Titans taught us anything last free agency, it’s that they put a premium on availability. The common thread with seemingly every signing they made—from Dan Moore, to Xavier Woods, to Tyler Lockett, to Cody Barton amongst others—was that they had a track record of availability.

Pitts has a lengthy track record of lower body injuries. He’s dealt with a foot, an MCL, and three different hamstring injuries the past handful of seasons. It’s led him to miss too many games and be largely hampered in even more. And this goes hand-in-hand with the second reason I don’t think the Titans will consider him: he’s really a receiver. Pitts is a TENO: Tight End in Name Only. He’s not built to be a blocker, and he’s not ever been a particularly effective one.

That’s perfectly fine if you know how to use him and he can be an alpha in the passing game like he was this week. But when he’s as banged up as he’s been, he loses that burst, long speed, and separation ability. Without that, his game shrinks tremendously.

The simple truth in the NFL in 2025 is that if you don’t have more than one tight end who can block and catch the ball, you’re hamstrung as an offense. The Titans have one of those guys in rookie Gunnar Helm; they need another. And Pitts isn’t that guy. If you sign him, you’d be functionally paying him to be a starting receiver for Cam Ward. And I don’t see him as the kind of guy they’ll be after to fill that role.

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