Atlanta Makes Cade Otton’s Day; Plan To Franchise Kyle Pitts
February 24th, 2026
Bucs TE Cade Otton.
Some Bucs fans’ dreams were shattered Monday but Cade Otton’s dreams may come true.
Some Bucs fans (and even perhaps the Bucs) dreamt that free agent tight end Kyle Pitts may re-unite with new Bucs offensive coordinator Zac Robinson.
The past two seasons, Robinson was Pitts’ offensive coordinator in Atlanta. But there will be no reunion. Per multiple reports Monday, Dixie Chicks big-shot Matty Ice plans to franchise tag Pitts if the two can’t get a deal signed.
So how does this affect Otton? Well, some believe Otton will be a hot commodity if he hits the free agent market.
One such person is Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com. With Pitts off the board, Rosenthal now believes Otton is the best tight end talent looking for a new contract.
Welcome to Cade Otton Island, where you can run any offense you want while never giving an inch in the run game. In our growing two-tight end world, every NFL team needs an Otton.
Rosenthal now has Otton ranked as his No. 18 overall free agent right behind Mike Evans and Jamel Dean. Interestingly, Daniel Popper of The Athletic doesn’t even have Otton in his top-10 of free agent tight ends.
If the Bucs want a two-tight end set, not a staple of the Sean McVay system Robinson runs, then they need another tight end (unless Robinson believes Devin Culp is a No. 2 tight end). Regardless, college tight ends Kenyon Sadiq or Michael Trigg get Joe’s antennae up.
February 24th, 2026 at 8:06 am
Cade Otten should walk in free agency and bring Micheal Trigg back to play for his home city. It’s time for Licht to stop the signing our own guys nonsense especially after losing the division.
February 24th, 2026 at 8:06 am
Yep! Lt. Dan’s dream was in fact shattered!
February 24th, 2026 at 8:15 am
Play Culp more?
February 24th, 2026 at 8:23 am
Now JL go get Tyler Allgeier and fill the RB hole while doing damage to the Falcons.
February 24th, 2026 at 8:37 am
I kind of figured the Pitts would be franchise tagged. Bucs better try to find a way to keep Otton. Lousy blocker but a great receiver in third down situations.
February 24th, 2026 at 8:50 am
As I mentioned in a previous post, say what you want about Otten, good,bad, indifferent, however, without him they have next to no one . Culp has a lot of athleticism , but unproven to be a complete player, behind him there isn’t much.
So the Bucs better resign him
February 24th, 2026 at 9:10 am
Nice job Atlanta, way to overspend on another average player. I mean Pitts will still play the Bucs twice a year, cringe. But outside of playing the Bucs he is just a mere mortal and just an average NFL tight end. So yes pay him top 5 money and eat your cap space. Not impressed but that does put another just average tight end into top tier money, cash in Cade. Hopefully it isn’t Licht that fills the salary cap space with more just average players.
February 24th, 2026 at 9:10 am
Otton = JAG. League minimum plus 5% salary or adios IMO.
February 24th, 2026 at 9:16 am
Yes they have next to no one without Otten. That’s what the draft and free agency is for it’s called upgrading the roster 😑
February 24th, 2026 at 9:29 am
ejeezusbelt Says:
“Nice job Atlanta, way to overspend on another average player. I mean Pitts will still play the Bucs twice a year, cringe. But outside of playing the Bucs he is just a mere mortal and just an average NFL tight end.”
And that’s not just Pitts but most tight ends that played the Bucs in 2025. We need 2 ILBs and 2 OLBs min… draft or free agency.
If I had my choice, I’d like a split of 1 from the draft and 1 from free agency for each. Just don’t want another Reddick or JTS … the Bucs need 4 home runs here.
Very little margin for error in the draft and FA this time around, especially when drafting for the defense.
February 24th, 2026 at 9:31 am
If the Bucs have a thumper LB that hits Pitts he goes Gator arm, no pun intended. Otten is not a bad TE, has made more plays than hasn’t and has fought for extra yards and held onto the ball more often than hot. Culp is the question mark.
February 24th, 2026 at 9:48 am
I am 100% comfortable with cade Otton as TE….Of course at the right price.
February 24th, 2026 at 9:51 am
Resign Otten. Utilize him appropriately. Utilize Durham and Culp appropriately and situationally. Resign Keift for short yardage and special teams. Done. Spend the money elsewhere. We have no idea what Culp and Durham can do in a good offense. They both showed promise under Coen. Griz misused them ( and Cade) and they all regresses. Sadiq is a wasted pick as a first rounder and won’t last til the 2nd. Trigg is no different than Culp. And Durham is a blocker and red zone/ 3rd and short guy. Spend on defense and OL
February 24th, 2026 at 10:25 am
Im not thrilled about resigning Otton, that money can be spent elsewhere. But if we’re not planning on drafting a TE (Trigg or Endries) then i guess we’ll have to pay for him.
February 24th, 2026 at 10:31 am
What BigBoiBuc said!
Additionally, Durham and Culp need to rest Otton by playing more snaps – and get targets from Bake. If Zach and Peele think Durham and Culp aren’t good enough, then draft some TE’s – in ’27 not ’26.
February 24th, 2026 at 10:46 am
Iam Cunningham. Falcons new GM. Working with Stefanski. Matt Ryan seems to be the only one over there with good sense. They’re calling him President of Football Operations. Does anybody reckon Licht and Cunningham may be playing a little bit of football poker. Paying an underperformer like Pitts, ofting Cousins, and I’d say Licht is kicking some early season Falcons a$$. Football teams in division play at least twice a year. But they have to alot more to do than 2 weeks game prep to be competitive. I think Licht is a good GM and he’s just one of the reasons we’re going to be better than we’re trending at the moment.
February 24th, 2026 at 11:17 am
Likely Fant Chig are 3 guys better than Otton for about the same price
February 24th, 2026 at 11:21 am
There was never any scenario where ATL, Matty-Ice, or Stefanski was allowing HIM to get away. Was not gonna happen. I mean, would YOU!? Hell NO. Nobody would. It was always going to be “franchise” at worst. Especially, with TE’s only bring in that $14-$17MIL range. You’re NOT breaking up your “3-Headed MONSTER” of Bijan, London, & Pitts. And, allowing HIM to just ‘walk-away’ for absolutely NOTHING. Especially, with a young QB you’re still trying to develop and evaluate. Definitely NOT with a brand new ‘offensive-minded’ HC who actually knows how to USE his TE’s. It was never even a possibility, to begin with. It was never happening.
February 24th, 2026 at 11:25 am
Definitely not thrilled with resigning Otton.
He runs a 6 yard route when we need 8 and an 8 yard route when we need 10.
He doesn’t have the arm or hand strentth to fight for a contested catch and win.
And the final nail….. for gods sake, give me another starting tight end that doesn’t wear gloves…. Enough said lol.
February 24th, 2026 at 11:57 am
otter gets the ball ripped from him not once but twice- cut him
February 24th, 2026 at 12:00 pm
pitts w atlanta will kill us again he has career days against us, stinks against everyone else but 12 catches 212 yards and 4 tds against the bucs LOL would have loved to have him on our side, doh!!!
PITTS… how did he kill us so bad?!- he was already dominating us!! How do YOU NOT ADJUST DURING THE GAME?!!! DOUBLE HIM?!!!! THAT WAS SO PATHETIC. I HATE OUR DEFENSE!!!
February 24th, 2026 at 12:03 pm
Other than those two lousy plays where he gave up/handed off the ball to the defender ( down or not…those stood out ), his entire body of work has been at least a B letter grade. Watch for Denver and jouley Sean Payton to make a run at him amongst others.
Pitts joins Kissing Cousins and other previously underperforming players who have had their career revitalized at the hands of the Bucs defense.The Bucs D deserves at least a cut of these enhanced contracts.
February 24th, 2026 at 1:10 pm
Let’s be done with Otton. He’s too soft. The league know they can bully him and take the ball away from him.
February 24th, 2026 at 1:57 pm
Im amazed at how influenced some are by “hyperbole,” joes included. 2 freakish plays involving Otton (tie goes to the offense & the immaculate strip) do not make him a bad player. He has been consistent, dependable during ME13’s annual hammy, and durable throughout his tenure in Tampa. Likewise, a couple of goal line strips (freak plays) do NOT make AWJ all world. He is small, unintimidating, injured often, and seemed to embrace the loaf last year.
I certainly hope that you are not judged by your worst moments; and equally true, you probably are not worthy if judged by your best day
February 24th, 2026 at 2:25 pm
@ChiBuc ⬆️. You are 10000% correct. Those that think those 2 plays define Otten are idiots. Joe fuels that fire because a) he has no creative clue what else to say and b) he is usually not sure what he’s watching. As for those that argue about Ottons not getting to the first down marker, the routes are designed to the exact yard that he is supposed to run. It’s not ad-lib. He just can’t decide he will run it longer. It’s not backyard football. Except on a scramble drill, route yardage is precise. It’s on the OC to call the right play. He is a better than average TE and that’s all we need in this offense.
February 24th, 2026 at 2:47 pm
Time to cut the drift wood. Otton is completely useless now.
Plenty of TE talent in the draft that will cost less and produce more.
Simple decision making 101.
Besides, why waste more money on the offense?
The defense needs top tier talent if we hope to win more than 8 games.
Baker can’t throw the ball either. Just a RB with a below average arm.
February 24th, 2026 at 4:12 pm
Bucs have to re-sign him.
Otherwise, we have no good tight ends.
February 24th, 2026 at 4:14 pm
We need to re-sign Otton then sign a cheap veteran TE who can block…so that Otton is freed up for the passing game.
btw, those saying Otton can’t block are wrong.
February 24th, 2026 at 4:20 pm
ynchMob50 Says:
“Plenty of TE talent in the draft that will cost less and produce more.”
We need all the defense we can in this draft. Using a pick on a TE is the wrong move.
Otton had close to 600 yards last year, at an average of 9.7 yards per catch. He actually had 600 yards the year before that, with 10.2 yards per catch. 59 receptions on both years.
He is 26 years old and entering his 5th year. Make him a pass catcher more often and he’ll get 1k yards potentially…but that won’t happen because they need him blocking.
What we need to do is re-sign him and get a veteran TE who is a strong blocker.
February 24th, 2026 at 5:10 pm
@Lynchmob, aside from our aging and underperforming defensive front 7 needs, do you really trust the guy who drafted OJ Howard and Sefarian-Jenkins to waste more early picks on a TE? How are Culp, Durham, and Keift working out for you. JL got his 1 in 10 dart throw withe Otton, don’t push your luck. You know exactly what Otton is, yet you want go chasing that hope train with Licht? Otton got snubbed, just like White by JL/org last season to drive down their value. I personally would walk if I were him (like White), but keep lapping at the rhetoric like a SOG yard mutt on an oil pan full of antifreeze
February 24th, 2026 at 5:23 pm
@ChiBuc, don’t think you can close the book on Durham and Culp yet. I think they regressed under that way underprepared OC we had last year. Both of them showed signs of progress under Coen. And both still on rookie contracts.
February 24th, 2026 at 5:41 pm
Not closing the books, but why add another name (draft) to the “list of speculation” (Culp n Durham) and simultaneously remove a known commodity (Otton). It’s just bad business. Why would you want to joust windmills (TEs) when the dragons in the room is the entire defensive front 7.
I said it when E² was drafted, I’ll say it again. The E² pick was a great way to insulate Licht and Bowles from blame. ‘We gave him (OC, Mayfield) the tools, so failure is on them.’ Todd even straight up plays the martyr. After 30+ yrs in the industry, he realizes that points win games…’I’ll find a way (defensively) with what I’ve got, but if an offensive weapon is there you have to take him.’ Meanwhile, Todd has yet to develop a top defensive pick (JTS, Hall, even Kancey is an absentee vote). Now, that Licht n Bowles are retained, time to put your money where your mouth is and swing for the fence (DEFENSE). Prove to the world why you were retained. Instead of hiding behind the OC du jour
February 25th, 2026 at 12:33 am
Daniel Popper of the Athletic has it correct sir-at least 10 better FA TE’s than Otton. Why is it the O-T-T-O-N supporters cannot spell it right?????????
February 25th, 2026 at 1:05 am
No