Seahawks Release Noah Fant: Strategic Move at Tight End
The Seattle Seahawks have announced the release of starting tight end, Noah Fant. The decision, communicated on Sunday, marks a significant change in the team’s configuration for the upcoming season.
The uncertainty about Fant’s future on the team had intensified due to his contract and his performance in the last three seasons. The situation was further complicated after the selection of Elijah Arroyo in the second round of the April draft.
The release of Fant, which occurs two days before veterans report to training camp, represents a considerable saving for the Seahawks. The team benefits with $9 million in cash and $8.91 million in salary cap space. However, they will assume $4.5 million in dead money.
Before this decision, the Seahawks already had approximately $27 million in available salary cap space, although some of those funds could be allocated to future contract extensions.
Fant, 27, was scheduled to earn $9 million non-guaranteed in the final year of a two-year, $21 million contract. The $10.5 million average of that deal ranked him 12th among tight ends.
In his three seasons with Seattle, Fant ranked 20th in receptions (130), 21st in receiving yards (1,400), and tied for 38th in touchdowns (five). His score at the end of last season was his first since late 2022, when he was acquired from the Denver Broncos in the Russell Wilson trade.
Elijah Arroyo, selected with pick number 50, has been compared to Fant. The Seahawks’ tight end list also includes AJ Barner, who led Seattle’s tight ends with four touchdowns last season as a rookie, and veteran Eric Saubert.
Other tight ends on Seattle’s roster are undrafted rookies, though they also have Brady Russell, a former tight end competing for the fullback position after changing positions this offseason.
Fant spent his first three seasons with the Broncos, who selected him 20th overall in 2019. In 47 games with Denver, he caught 170 passes for 1,905 yards and 10 touchdowns.
