The Atlanta Falcons’ extension of tight end Kyle Pitts might have made things tougher for the Green Bay Packers to extend their tight end, Tucker Kraft. Pitts did not reset the market entirely, but he did get more than predicted, and that might lead to Kraft seeing a big deal this offseason.
Pitts signed a three-year, $54M contract that featured $36M in guaranteed salary. That comes to an average of $18M per year. As it stands, that would put him as the third-highest-paid tight end. George Kittle is making $19.1M per year, and Trey McBride is at $19M.
The Packers are likely going to have to offer Kraft more than Pitts. They will either have to find a narrow gap between Pitts and Kittle, or they will have to accept that Kraft is about to be the highest-paid tight end in the NFL.
The Green Bay Packers Might Make Tucker Kraft the Highest Paid Tight End After Kyle Pitts Extension
GettyTucker Kraft is recovering from an ACL injury.
First, Pitts came in well above market. Spotrac projected a four-year extension worth $58M. So, they were looking more in the $14.6M range on an average annual salary. Spotrac also projected Kraft to make $15.5M per year.
Pitts ended up making $3.4M more per year, although he did not get a fourth year on his extension. Still, Spotrac already projected Kraft to top Pitts on an extension. Now that Pitts deal already happened, and it came in higher than expected, there is no other option but to send an offer higher than what Pitts got.
It will be tough to top McBride, but McBride signed his deal a year earlier, when the cap was lower. He is also two years older than Kraft. In the case of Kittle, he has earned the pedigree of the highest-paid tight end, but he is also 33 years old.
Packers Cannot Wait on a Kraft Extension
The biggest argument against Kraft is that he is going to be coming off a torn ACL. However, Kittle is going to be coming back from an Achilles tear this year as well. Beyond that, the ascension of Kraft has been hard to deny.
He had 355 yards during his rookie year. That jumped up to 707 in his second NFL season. While Kraft only had 489 yards in his third year, he did jump from 41.6 yards per game to 61.1 yards per game. He was going to shatter his second-year statistics in 2025 had he stayed healthy.
Beyond that, he is already being viewed with Kittle as one of the better blocking tight ends in the NFL. The two-way ability is valuable for Green Bay and will make it hard to pass up extending him.
Kraft suffered his injury early enough in the year that he is not expected to miss significant time, if any time at all. At his age and the projection of his career, it would be hard to see him struggling to come back from the injury or not being able to get back to full strength.
So, Kraft could continue to ascend and set a market that is even higher than the Kittle and McBride range. The Packers would be smart to get it done, even if it is higher than expected this year.
Kyle Pitts Extension Could Cost Packers More Than Expected