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Kyle Pitts Lays Out Plan to Get Huge Contract
© Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Kyle Pitts enters his fifth season with the Atlanta Falcons knowing it's likely the most important as professional to this point. The tight end and former No. 4 overall NFL Draft has to prove it to his team — or others — that he's deserving of a hefty second contract.

Now playing on his fifth-year option, Pitts' 35.4 receiving yards per game last year accounted for the lowest average of his career. The former Florida Gators' standout's stellar rookie season is three years back in the rear-view mirror, but he knows what it will take for him to get paid.

"You know how it go. Consistency," Pitts said last week on Cam Newton's podcast, "4th&1 With Cam Newton." "You gotta put up numbers. It is a little bit how you are in the building, but they wanna see you catch passes, get the first down, move the sticks. That's what it is about me. Being in the tight end position is really just getting the first down, moving the chains, doing my thing, scoring."

Kyle Pitts had 602 receiving yards and four touchdowns on 47 grabs last season. The Falcons transitioned from veteran Kirk Cousins to newcomer Michael Penix Jr., with the latter figuring to keep the starting spot this coming go-round. Pitts believes this year will define him more than the last.

"You are your fifth year," Pitts said. "And the years kind of fly by. As you know, your rookie year to now, it's like, 'Damn, I was just having a full offseason of doing signings and appearances and you just don't even stop.' To now, it's like, OK, now you see now if you don't perform, you don't get those signings. Or you don't get those different appearances or those brands reaching out to you."

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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