Someday, somewhere, some team is going to help Kyle Pitts. He might not be the “unicorn” as he was billed coming into the NFL, but the Atlanta Falcons deserve some blame for not figuring it, and him, out.
When and where can the tight end succeed? With the Cincinnati Bengals? Sure.
But that shouldn’t – and wouldn’t – require the high price of trading away unhappy holdout Trey Hendrickson.
Oh, and by the way, it shouldn’t – and wouldn’t – require the wacky machinations included in Bleacher Report’s needlessly convoluted three-team trade, either.
Here’s how B/R wants it to work: Hendrickson would land with the Indianapolis Colts, DeForest Buckner would be traded to the Atlanta Falcons, and Kyle Pitts would be sent to Cincinnati.
Each idea, in its own vacuum, is worthy of a mini-argument.
Money aside, the Colts would love Hendrickson.
Bad stats aside, he Bengals and Joe Burrow could have some fun with Pitts.
Why does Atlanta want Buckner? No, we don’t get that one …
So first, let’s get ride of the three-way. It’s a weird red herring here.
Logically, this should be two separate trades. No need for pretzel logic.
Hendrickson goes somewhere. (Bengals fans don’t care where). Atlanta? If Atlanta wants Buckner (as B/R suggests, they’d darn sure double-want Trey.
And Pitts comes to Cincy. In exchange for what? Well, not Hendrickson; that’s not even close to comparable value. The Falcons would have to pay the Bengals here in capital to pull this off.
So … two deals.
The Bengals move Hendrickson for something that helps their defense. (Because without him, they’re gonna need it.)
And the Bengals separately call Atlanta to offer a middling draft pick for the 24-year-old semi-bust tight end Pitts.
Not one deal. Two deals.
But let us reiterate: When B/R writes, “Cincinnati can still move Hendrickson and probably should”? They’re wrong. The Bengals defense without a guy who gets an astounding 17.5 sacks per game should not be moved. He should be signed.
And that’s the best Pitts-related idea of all here. Find out what it takes to get Pitts. And find out what it takes to sign Hendrickson. … with no pretzeling needed.
The Bengals will see what they can do in extending their defensive cornerstone, but if a trade is their last resort, it’d be smart to not make things any more complicated than the organization already has by sticking with one trade partner.
