Noah Fant Signs Bengals Contract in Photo After Seahawks Release amid NFL Rumors

Veteran tight end Noah Fant signed with the Cincinnati Bengals following his release from the Seattle Seahawks.

ESPN's Adam Schefter previously reported the news.

Fant, who recorded 48 catches for 500 receiving yards and a touchdown in 14 games last season, carried a 2025 cap hit of more than $13 million on his previous contract. Seahawks general manager John Schneider recently described his release on Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob show as a “pure cap casualty situation.”

A first-round pick by the Denver Broncos in 2019, Fant was traded to the Seahawks as part of the Russell Wilson deal in 2022. He will now join Mike Gesicki, Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Andrei Iosivas as a target for Joe Burrow.

Hudson and Drew Sample will also round out the Bengals' tight end room behind Gesicki and Fant.

Fant was heading into the final year of a two-year, $21 million contract, giving him an average annual salary that ranked 12th among all tight ends heading into 2025, per Over the Cap.

That was higher than Fant ever ranked among tight end receiving yard leaders, a list on which he finished 18th in 2024. The Seahawks ultimately moved on after adding AJ Barner and Elijah Arroyo in successive drafts.

“We tried to make things work,” Schneider said about negotiations with Fant after the tight end's release (h/t Seattle Sports' Cameron Van Til). “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."

The Bengals will now benefit from that cap-saving move by adding a player who ranked fourth on the team with 277 yards after the catch last season.

That could make him one of the biggest YAC threats in Cincinnati, where only Ja'Marr Chase and Chase Brown recorded higher totals during 2024 season.

Fant missed three games last last season with a groin injury, and he hasn't fully lived up to expectations as a former first-round pick since averaging a career-high 673 receiving yards with the Broncos in 2020.

The Bengals will hope that's set to change as Fant gets the chance to start working with Burrow this summer.

Offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher told The Athletic's Paul Dehner Jr. that Gesicki, who is heading into his second season in the Bengals offense, is a "a match made in heaven" for his system as a target who can take advantage of opponents' double coverage on Chase.

Fans can expect to get a better idea of how Gesicki's role will change following the addition of Fant as training camp continues in Cincinnati.