Seahawks TE Noah Fant: Seattle's Next Cap Casualty?

Now deep into the offseason with most of free agency wrapped up, the Seattle Seahawks have made several quality moves to improve their roster, including signing defensive tackle Dre'Mont Jones and re-signing legendary linebacker Bobby Wagner.

But in the aftermath of six outside free agent signings coupled with extending quarterback Geno Smith's contract, the Seahawks currently find themselves in an untenable financial situation. Even after making the tough call to rescind safety Ryan Neal's restricted free agent tender last Friday to save $2.67 million, per OverTheCap.com, they still have -$3 million in effective cap space, which ranks dead last among all 32 teams.

At the moment, without a draft class to account for, Seattle isn't in the red. But by the time the team makes 10 picks later this month, including two first round selections, they will have to make a few moves to become salary cap compliant. Among possible options, the front office could extend the contract of a player such as linebacker Uchenna Nwosu or restructure a high-priced veteran such as safety Quandre Diggs to create instant cap relief.

But in an interesting alternative, ESPN's Mike Clay considered another possibility that may actually be the most likely option. Could the Seahawks decide to move on from Noah Fant after just one season and put him on the trade block?

Acquired as part of the blockbuster Russell Wilson trade, Fant's final stat line underwhelmed in his first season in Seattle, as he finished with a career-low 486 receiving yards and 9.7 yards per reception. His 50 receptions also were his lowest total since catching 40 passes during his rookie year in 2019 and while he tied a career-high with four touchdown receptions, that's not an impressive total by any means.

However, numbers don't necessarily paint the best picture sometimes and Fant performed much better than his catch and yardage totals suggest. He caught nearly 80 percent of his targets from Smith, posted 237 yards created after the catch, and most importantly, made notable strides as a blocker after originally breaking into the NFL as a glorified receiver coming out of Iowa.

Only 25 years old, Fant still has ample room to continue developing as an all-around player and the Seahawks made a rare move for the franchise by picking up his fifth-year option last May. Under the terms of the additional year, he's the NFL's 15th-highest paid tight end at an affordable $6.85 million in 2023.

But Seattle's decision to pick up Fant's option a year ago could be viewed as a "wait and see" proposition, providing an extended window to figure out whether or not the player will be part of long term plans. As Clay speculated, his usage late in the season even after Will Dissly went on injured reserve casts some questions, as Colby Parkinson played significantly more snaps in the last two regular season games as well as the wild card round loss to San Francisco.

Considering Parkinson's own improvements as a blocker, those snap numbers may not mean much in the scheme of things and Fant still played more than 40 offensive snaps in each of those contests. However, if Parkinson has passed on him on the depth chart, he may be the player the Seahawks desire to extend long-term with both scheduled to become unrestricted free agents next March.

If that is indeed the case, given Seattle's current salary cap crunch, trying to trade Fant now or during the draft would make sense for multiple reasons.

Though the Seahawks likely wouldn't fetch much more than a sixth or seventh round pick in exchange, trading him would immediately take his entire $6.89 million cap hit off the books. In contrast, since his fifth-year option is fully guaranteed for 2023, releasing him wouldn't be on the table since the move would incur a $6.89 million dead cap hit for 2023, further exacerbating their cap woes.

Additionally, this year's draft class features a strong tight end group headlined by Notre Dame's Michael Mayer, Georgia's Darnell Washington, and Utah's Dalton Kincaid, which would allow the team to quickly find Fant's replacement on a cheaper four-year rookie deal. Even on day three, Seattle could find quality value due to the depth at the position this year.

Of course, behind the scenes, the Seahawks could be trying to hammer out an extension with Fant before the draft, which would have a similar effect. Due to his youth and athletic upside as a former first-round pick coupled with his improving chemistry with Smith last year as the season progressed, nobody would criticize the franchise for going that route and a new contract would also create some cap relief without jettisoning a promising young tight end for peanuts.

But with less than four weeks until the draft kicks off in Kansas City, general manager John Schneider has officially entered crunch time for negotiations, whether that is with Nwosu, Fant, or another player. If Seattle isn't engaged in discussions with the young tight end, that may be telling about the team's intentions heading towards draft weekend with moves necessary to get their cap under control and continue adding to the roster.

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