After benching Kirk Cousins for Michael Penix Jr. late in the 2024 season, the Atlanta Falcons’ 2025 offseason has been coated in trade rumors. While Cousins stuck with the team through the draft, he remains the Falcons’ top trade candidate entering training camp.
Four-way tight end trade:
Michael Mayer —> Dolphins
Mark Andrews —> Chargers
Noah Fant —> Falcons
Kyle Pitts —> Steelers
Can send late round draft picks or swaps that nobody really cares about anyway in return. Who says no.
This makes sense and is somewhat similar to how Arthur Smith used him in Atlanta. Who can forget Jonnu on a jet sweep at the goal line as Bijan sadly looked on?
That said - Jonnu averaged less than 8pts per game in ATL under Smith & hard to project a lot more w/out some TD luck
A few notes (full article coming) ...
- Smith ran 46% of his routes out of the slot last season, and he led all TEs in perimeter routes (23.8 percent).
- The Steelers don't have an exciting WR2
- Arthur Smith loves to run 12 personnel
- Jonnu's value takes a hit, but not a deathblow
Kyle Pitts would be a logical fit with #Dolphins, but then Atlanta would need to find a replacement for Pitts.
I would love to grab Michael Mayer from the #Raiders for a Day 3 pick, whether Pitts is traded or not.
Quick off-the-clock thoughts on the Steelers/Dolphins trade ...
1) Pittsburgh's acquired Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf, Jonnu Smith and now Jalen Ramsey. All on third contracts or beyond. They're leaning hard into 2025.
2) Ramsey's flexibility to play corner and safety should effectively replace the versatility Minkah Fitzpatrick gave them. And Smith is now with the coach, Arthur Smith, who knows how to get the most from him, and the Steelers get a perfect complement to Pat Freiermuth.
3) Miami treads water in the secondary (bringing in a marginally younger player), moves on from two guys that were on the outs anyway, saves a bunch of money, and continues what, as we've said, looks like a reset-on-the-fly. And they move up a '27 pick two roundx.
4) Having a heady safety is very important in Anthony Weaver's scheme, and Fitzpatrick has the sort of IQ guys like Kyle Hamilton and Eric Weddle brought for all those years in Baltimore.
... So in summation, logical move for both teams.