FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Last week's mailbag had a singular focus, and that was the short- and long-term future of Drake London. With London playing on his fifth-year option in 2026, many were wondering what a deal with him could look like and if he'd return to form this year from that PCL sprain.

This week's mailbag follows a similar line of questioning, only this week the inquiries involve Kyle Pitts.

Pitts is coming off one of his most dynamic performances as an Atlanta Falcon. It's something that showcased why he was the No. 4 overall draft pick, but one that took a while to manifest. Still, it has people thinking: Is this a sign of more to come for Pitts? Or are the Falcons forced to move on after this year despite his uptick in production recently? We answer those questions and a couple more in this week's mailbag.

Mike S. from Calgary

Look, Kyle Pitts is never going to live up to the draft status or the lofty expectations he came here with which is unfortunate but let's take a moment to appreciate that incredible game! I don't think the Falcons have the cap space to re-sign him with all the other worthy extensions coming, but can we get a check into the cap status for next year? Obviously there's the big elephant in the room with Kirk Cousins, so how does cutting him impact dead money and remaining cap space?

I do think Pitts will ultimately out-price what Atlanta would be able to give him this offseason. If the Falcons had more money to play with, maybe they could make something work — that's also assuming Pitts would want to — but at this point in time, that doesn't seem particularly likely. Especially not when you know players like Kaden Elliss and Tyler Allgeier are due up for either new contracts or the free agency market, too.

Still, you make a good point about Cousins' contract because what the Falcons decide to do with that dictates what they can do with the money that becomes available.

As it stands right now, the Falcons have $944,654 in cap space in 2026. The team's effective cap space, however — which is the realistic amount a team can expect after accounting for non-negotiable future expenses, like signing their draft picks — is just south of $11 million.

Cousins' overall cap number in 2026 is $57.5 million, taking up a whopping 19.2% of the cap. The Falcons will have to open up more cap space, and a way to do that is by getting Cousins' contract off the books as much as possible.

Let's break down the organization's options, according to OverTheCap.com:

• If Cousins is cut prior to June 1: The team will carry a dead money hit of $35 million and save $22.5 million towards the cap. Seeing as Cousins' original deal was for four years, the Falcons will continue to have him on the books in some way in 2027, too. With this set of circumstances, the Falcons would carry a dead hit of $12.5 million with $45 million in cap savings in 2027.
• If Cousins is cut post-June 1 (or with a post-June 1 designation): The team's above dead money hit and cap savings would flip, with the Falcons offsetting about $12.5 million to use towards others players or future players on the roster.
• Of course a trade is optimal as the figures are even better than a cut. However, the team would have to have a willing partner, something they haven't yet found. Could these most recent starts by Cousins change an organization's mind? Are the Falcons in the position to sit back and hope a team bites? Do they have that kind of time knowing other players and free agents could be snatched up while they wait? That's all up for debate and questions, too.

Areet H. from Atlanta

Long time podcast listener of Final Whistle! Know it hasn't been easy but I have enjoyed listening to you and Will on my drive into work every Monday morning. Something you both made mention to last week was about the recent uptick in Kyle Pitts' production, Tori I think it was you who said it may have something to do with Pitts being higher up in the progression without Drake London — is it really something as simple as that or is Pitts just playing better now that Drake isn't there?

I genuinely do think it's as simple as that, Areet. Head coach Raheem Morris alluded to as much, too, saying on Monday that without London, it's Pitts who takes over the "No. 1 wideout" role.

"He got the targets that Drake would get when he's playing. (Pitts) got those," Morris said. "He got his targets that he would normally get, too."

The Falcons also schemed things up specifically for Pitts — case in point: His second touchdown catch in the final two minutes of the first half off the exact same route concept deployed on the play before that resulted in a 36-yard explosive play followed up by the 17-yard touchdown grab.

That, Morris said, and Pitts just had the hot hand.

"He made some (plays) early, and when you make those plays early, you show that kind of confidence," Morris said, "so you keep going back to him."

I also think Kirk Cousins has a say in this as well. This isn't to say this is a knock to Michael Penix Jr. It isn't. I simply mean that Cousins is more likely to pull off of his first read than Penix is. Penix has gone on the record a couple times imply he's pulling the trigger more times than not on his first read, especially if it is a 50/50 ball to Drake London — which is very often. And that's been successful for those two, but I would argue it has (perhaps) affected whether or not the ball gets to the second, third or fourth read of Penix. And hey, protection plays a major role in this as well. You gotta have time in the pocket to get through your progressions.

Recently, the front has protected better and Pitts has earned first-read looks more and more in recent weeks, particularly with London out. And when he is not the first read, Cousins is well-versed in getting through his progressions quickly.

So, it feels like a perfect storm for Pitts — one that mimics his first year in the league, when he was a primary, go-to target more often than just about anyone else.

Will any of this continue, though, that is a good question, because at any point you could see the return of London. At any point, Bijan Robinson could go off. And Morris is cognizant of that.

"That's the world every week on offense," he said. "It's like, you got to give Bijan 20 carries, right? 20-plus carries, and where he's going right now, you got to throw him the ball at least seven, right? And then Drake comes back, he's a 12-targeted guy. And now Kyle's a 10-targeted guy. Then, you want to find a way to get (Darnell) Mooney the rock down the field, get him his deep shots, and do those things. It's always the issue. And then don't forget about, hey, you got to get the ball with Tyler (Allgeier), right? So it's like, those are always the issues.

"A lot of times you like to go into it and say (Pitts) is going to be the hot man. You got to have a plan. You got to have your best plan of attack to go out there and attack the team that you're playing. And then when the guys take advantage of those targets, it really helps out to be able to keep those guys in those roles. They know that. That's a part of what it is. That's always going to be a part of what it is. But there's going to be highly targeted guys, and Kyle's definitely earned the right to be one of those highly targeted guys."