With Noah Fant gone, the Seahawks' other tight ends are shining at training camp

Seattle's two young tight ends at the top of their depth chart are both looking sharp at the VMAC.

Dec 15, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks tight end AJ Barner (88) exits the locker room before pregame warmups against the Green Bay Packers at Lumen Field. | Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

Why the Seattle Seahawks front office waited as long as they did to cut Noah Fant we'll never know. If you ask head coach Mike Macdonald he won't say, even under torture. While it was unusual for the team to cut a player so close to training camp, it was the right thing to do.

Cutting Fant saved the team nearly $9 million in salary cap space for the 2025 season - which should be enough to plug one of the team's roster holes - perhaps at right guard or center. The real benefit of the move was making room for Seatte's two young tight ends to move up the depth chart, and it seems that's already paying off.

According to an account by Mike Dugar at The Athletic, both AJ Barner and rookie Elijah Arroyo are impressing at training camp.

Seahawks TEs shine at training camp

"Speaking of tight ends, Barner and second-round rookie Elijah Arroyo were very active Saturday. Barner had an excellent contested catch for a touchdown during a goal-line period... In seven-on-seven action a few minutes later, Barner beat inside linebacker Tyrice Knight in the end zone for a short touchdown, again from Darnold. Two plays later, Arroyo got free near the sideline for a goal-line touchdown from Darnold. Arroyo also caught several passes for first downs later in the day, from both Darnold and Drew Lock."

Jun 11, 2025; Renton, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks head coach is pictured during mini-camp at Virginia Mason Athletic Center. | Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images

This is a very positive development, especially given how important tight ends are to new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak's scheme.

Despite not seeing much in the way of targets, Barner managed to score four touchdowns as a rookie - just one shy of Noah Fant's total in his three years with the Seahawks. With a larger share of the offense, Barner's numbers could be even better in 2025.

That being said, Arroyo has a significantly higher ceiling - at least as a pass-catching threat. The sooner that he can pass Barner and become the top tight end on the depth chart the better.

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