John Schneider spells out why the Seattle Seahawks released Noah Fant

One team's "cap casualty" - turns out - is another's new tight end.

Right, Noah Fant?

The Seattle Seahawks' starting tight end from 2024 was cut because of financial reasons just before the start of training camp. It only took him a few days to land with a new team: the Cincinnati Bengals.

Fant was due to be a $13 million salary cap hit in Seattle in the final year of his two-year contract. With the Bengals, he signed a contract that, with incentives, could net him approximately $4.5 million. In other words, his maximum value is less than half of the salary he was scheduled to make with the Seahawks. That's why the Seahawks couldn't trade him, and were - according to general manager John Schneider - forced to cut him after three underwhelming seasons of 130 catches for 1,400 yards and only five touchdowns.

“We tried to make things work,” Schneider told Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob. “Noah’s awesome. He works his tail off. He can run. He’s a good tight end and he’ll have a very nice, productive year this year. We just felt like, in getting back to doing what’s best for the organization, we were at a point where we were just saying to ourselves – unfortunately you have to look at things like this – can we use that cash to help our team in a different manner? And are we OK at that position and are we covered there? And while we never feel like we’re totally covered, guys did have very strong springs.”

In Cincy, Fant will split tight-end targets with Mike Gesicki. Seattle, meanwhile, will have new quarterback Sam Darnold throwing to A.J. Barner and rookie Elijah Arroyo.
Barner caught four touchdowns as a rookie. Arroyo is a second-round pick who led all FBS tight ends in yards-per-catch at the University of Miami last fall.

Said Schneider of Fant's release: “This was a pure cap casualty situation for us.”

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