The Seattle Seahawks have moved on from Noah Fant, releasing the veteran tight end on Sunday after three underwhelming seasons in the Pacific Northwest.

A closer look at what Noah Fant’s release means for Seahawks

Fant, who came to Seattle as part of the 2022 Russell Wilson trade, arrived with high expectations after back-to-back 600-yard seasons with the Denver Broncos. But he never matched that type of production with the Seahawks, which ultimately made him a salary cap casualty.

Fant had one year remaining on his two-year, $21 million deal. He was set to carry a $13.41 million salary cap hit this season, which would have been the eighth-highest of any NFL tight end, according to OvertheCap.com. He never finished higher than 18th among tight ends in receiving yardage during his time in Seattle.

For ESPN senior NFL insider Jeremy Fowler, Fant’s release was no surprise.

“I actually wasn’t at all surprised,” Fowler told Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy on Monday. “… I was hearing whispers even around free agency (in March) that they could move him, or that he might even want to be moved, because they weren’t going to do a new contract.”

The Seahawks then drafted Miami tight end Elijah Arroyo in the second round of April’s NFL Draft, which further prompted speculation that Fant’s days in Seattle could be numbered.

The Seahawks already had one promising young tight end in 2024 fourth-round pick AJ Barner, who was coming off a productive four-touchdown rookie campaign. And in Arroyo, they got another one. The 6-foot-5, 254-pound Miami product is a potential big-time receiving weapon who has a rare level of speed and athleticism for his size, which he showcased last fall while leading all FBS tight ends with 16.9 yards per catch.

Huard: 3 reasons why Seahawks released TE Noah Fant

Seattle’s tight end room also has some quality depth with veteran run-blocking specialist Eric Saubert and 6-foot-5, 266-pound undrafted rookie Nick Kallerup, who was graded by Pro Football Focus as the second-best run-blocking tight end in the FBS last fall. In addition, while Robbie Ouzts and Brady Russell are competing for the Seahawks’ fullback job, both are traditionally tight ends.

“When they drafted Arroyo, (releasing Fant) just made sense, because they really liked AJ Barner,” Fowler said. “They felt like they had good depth there, and they like to go young when they have a chance to do so. So it only made sense to me. When I saw that, I wasn’t surprised.”

Listen to the full conversation with ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler at this link or in the audio player near the middle of this story. Tune in to Bump and Stacy weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

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