Seahawks Free Agency: Will Noah Fant Return With Bigger Role in Seattle's Offense?
On the heels of a disappointing 9-8 season that ended without a playoff berth and the departure of long-time coach Pete Carroll, the Seattle Seahawks have plenty of roster questions to address heading into a crucial offseason with a new regime in place.
When the new league year opens on March 13, Seattle will have 14 players scheduled to hit the market as unrestricted free agents. Four players will be restricted free agents and five will be exclusive rights free agents, while several other key veterans such as Pro Bowl safety Julian Love will be entering the final season of their respective deals ready to negotiate extensions.
Over the next several weeks, I will break down each and every one of the Seahawks' unrestricted free agents by revisiting their 2023 seasons, assessing why they should or should not be re-signed, breaking down an ideal contract, and making an early prediction on whether or not the player will return in 2024.
After failing to find the end zone and inconsistently being utilized in Seattle's passing game in 2023, will re-signing Noah Fant be back on the table as a bigger piece of the team's offensive puzzle moving forward?
Season in Review
Starting all 17 games for the Seahawks while splitting up reps with Will Dissly and Colby Parkinson, Fant provided hit-and-miss receiving production, catching 32 passes for 414 yards and no touchdowns, ranking fifth and fourth on the team in those respective categories. Even with his overall numbers taking a dip compared to his first season with the franchise, he caught 74 percent of his targets while playing 55 percent of the team's offensive snaps.
Why Seattle Should Re-Sign Him
At first glance, Fant's receiving numbers suggest he was a relative non-factor in Seattle's passing game, but that wasn't necessarily the case. A victim of circumstance, he saw diminished opportunities in large part due to the arrival of receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who joined an already loaded receiving corps headlined by DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. When Geno Smith did target the former first-round pick, he did significant damage with the football in his hands, finishing eighth among tight ends averaging 5.7 yards after the catch per reception with just two drops and seven receptions netting 20 or more yards.
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Continuing to make steady improvements as a blocker with north of 300 inline tight end snaps, Fant finished with a career-best 59.6 run blocking grade. While primarily running routes on passing plays, he also ranked a respectable 26th out of 91 qualified tight ends in pass blocking grade while allowing only four pressures and a sack on 36 pass protection reps.
Why Seattle Should Let Him Walk
With only one football to go around, Fant's production obviously was hindered by the skill talent around him on Seattle's offense and it wouldn't be fair to pin those subpar numbers completely on him. However, he hasn't been a consistent contributor in the passing game in two seasons with the team, including catching one or fewer passes and recording 10 or fewer yards in seven of his 17 games played in 2023. Add in the fact he didn't find the end zone once and only received two red zone targets all of last season, it's difficult to justify rewarding him with an extension when he hasn't demonstrated near as much value as a pass catcher as anticipated.
Ideal Contract
Two years, $12 million
Prediction
After failing to receive even 50 targets last season, Fant has hinted at wanting to potentially go elsewhere with the desire of being a bigger focal point in the passing game than he has in Seattle. Still only 26 years old, his athletic talent and prior numbers with Denver earlier in his career could drum up significant interest on the free agent market from tight end-needy teams. If that happens, it's highly unlikely, if not guaranteed, he won't be back for a third season in the Pacific Northwest.
But on the flip side, Fant and Parkinson are both scheduled to become free agents and Dissly could be a cap casualty candidate, creating significant questions for the Seahawks at the position. New offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb has a history of doing a good job incorporating tight ends into the passing game and if his price falls in line with the team's budget, a reunion shouldn't be ruled out with him potentially having a bigger role in a different scheme moving forward.
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