The Seattle Seahawks enter 2025 with a revamped offense, headlined by the signing of quarterback Sam Darnold to a $100 million contract.
Throughout the offseason, Seattle has focused on surrounding Darnold with reliable weapons, making key additions via free agency and the 2025 NFL Draft. As a result, the team is now expected to move on from an underperforming starting tight end.
Seahawks Predicted To Trade TE Noah Fant
The Seahawks acquired Noah Fant through the Russell Wilson trade package from the Denver Broncos in 2022. He was selected 20th overall by the Broncos in the 2019 NFL Draft, and while he was a reliable starter in Denver, the 27-year-old hasn’t quite lived up to the hype and has only regressed each year since arriving in Seattle.
The Seahawks don’t appear to see Fant as a long-term option, which is why they have invested notable picks on tight ends in the last two years. Now, when they have a solid starting group in Arroyo and 2024 fourth-rounder A.J. Barner, PFSN’s Sterling Xie believes Fant’s time in Seattle is running out.
“Since arriving in the Russell Wilson trade package, Noah Fant has been a competent but unspectacular starting tight end for the Seattle Seahawks,” Xie wrote. “Fant has missed only three games in three seasons with the Seahawks, but averaged 467 receiving yards per season with just five total receiving scores during his tenure.
“Second-round pick Elijah Arroyo comes with the type of receiving upside many expected for Fant when he was a first-round pick back in 2019. It’s the second straight season the Seahawks have invested a notable pick in a tight end, with fourth-rounder A.J. Barner playing 46% of the snaps as a rookie and finishing third on the team with four receiving touchdowns.
“Fant is in the final year of his contract, making him a prime candidate to be moved if the Seahawks feel confident in the young Arroyo-Barner duo. They might have to eat some of his $8.5 million base salary to move him, but they’d also free up $8.9 million in cap room. Either way, Fant’s time in Seattle is probably winding down with the draft investments the team has made at his position.”
The Seahawks had initially picked Fant’s fifth-year option before handing him a two-year extension worth $21 million in 2024, which he hasn’t lived up to.
Fant has managed just 1,400 receiving yards and five touchdowns in the last three seasons, and with Arroyo projecting to be a better receiving TE, it won’t be a surprise if Seattle trades him before the start of the season.