The Miami Dolphins have had quite an offseason in 2025 between trades and free agency. Specifically, they traded away their most productive player on offense from last year and perhaps their best defensive player on the same day in late June.
Tight end Jonnu Smith and cornerback Jalen Ramsey were shipped to the Pittsburgh Steelers, creating more roster holes that either need to be filled externally or solved by someone in-house stepping up. The latter doesn’t seem likely for either vacancy.
So, the Dolphins are turning to the free agent market to better their roster. Today, former Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks tight end Noah Fant is visiting the team.
Fant was drafted by Denver with the No. 20 overall in the 2019 NFL Draft. In his six NFL seasons he has caught 300 passes for 3,305 yards and 15 touchdowns in 95 career games. He hit free agency about a week ago after being released from the Seahawks.
Fant is making the free agency rounds
In 2024, Fant caught 48 balls 500 yards and a touchdown for the Seahawks. Those aren’t bad numbers and he could certainly help some tight-end-needy team, even if he probably won’t become a Pro Bowler. Then again, find me one Dolphins fan who predicted the season that Smith had last year.
Fant’s trip to see the Dolphins is his third visit since the Seahawks released him a couple of months ago. He also sat down with the Cincinnati Bengals and most recently he left the New Orleans Saints without a contract.
The Dolphins attempted to fill Smith’s void with a trade shortly after he was shipped to Pittsburgh. It was the deal that netted the Dolphins Minkah Fitzpatrick. They then made a move to acquire Dallen Waller and lure him out of retirement.
Have the Dolphins ever had a great tight end?
Without going into Fant’s sixth-grade stats from middle-school gym class, it should be noted that Dolphins really have never had a great tight end. If Fant were to sign, he probably won’t be the first.
But, a quick glance at the Dolphins’ history with the position shows that they’ve never really had a superstar. Even just a star? That’s debatable. The last really good tight end the team had was probably Randy McMichael. Remember him? He played for the Dolphins from 2002-2006 and he was quite productive.
He was so good that Brian Miller of Phin Phantic ranked him No. 2 on his list of the top Dolphins tight ends in history (Bruce Hardy was No. 1. You probably don’t remember him so we won’t go there right now).
“Statistically, Randy McMichael was not only the most productive pass-catcher in team history, but he was also the last tight end Miami had on the roster that was a legitimate threat and all-round quality player at the position,” Miller writes.
“McMichael was as good at blocking as he was catching passes. He had a nice blend of size, speed, and physicality that the Dolphins are still trying to find, but haven’t.
“McMichael had a long NFL career that spanned 11 seasons and three teams, including stints with the Chargers and the St. Louis Rams. His time in Miami, however, was his most productive. In five seasons with the Dolphins, he posted more than 3,000 yards receiving and 283 receptions. He had 24 touchdown receptions.”
It says a lot that the Dolphins really have never invested in the position. Sure, we can go back to the 1970s and 1980s (even then you won’t find much), but the tight end wasn’t the integral cog in an NFL machine then that it is today. Perhaps they don’t see the value in it? It sure seems like it. Does it say something that they passed on Tyler Warren on draft day?
The bottom line is that they need TE help and Fant could provide that immediately. They may want to re-think their attitude towards the position moving forward, however.
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