The Denver Broncos committed cap space and draft capital to address their underwhelming tight end group this offseason. However, the Broncos could still get a boost from a familiar face in Noah Fant, now formerly of the Seattle Seahawks.
The Seahawks cut Fant as training camp looms, and there is a small push for a homecoming.
“I’d bring him home…,” KOA’s Ryan Edwards posted on X on July 20, quoting the report from NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero about Fant’s release. “#Broncos.”
The Seahawks used the No. 50 overall pick of the 2025 draft to select Elijah Arroyo, making Fant expendable.
Fant is coming off a two-year, $21 million contract and has earned $31.3 million in his career.
Others also at least wondered if the Broncos should show an interest in Fant now that he is a free agent. That means Denver – or any other prospective suitor – would only have to use cap space to acquire him rather than surrendering draft capital.
Broncos Could Use Noah Fant to Complement Evan Engram
GettyFormer Jacksonville Jaguars TE Evan Engram #17 reacts after a touchdown reception against the Green Bay Packers.
Fant caught 48 passes for 500 yards and 1 touchdown with the Seahawks in 2024. Those marks were steps up from his 2023 line. They are still behind Fant’s career-best 68-670-4 line in 2021 while a member of the Broncos.
The Broncos’ tight ends caught 51 passes for 483 yards and 5 touchdowns in 2024.
Working against Fant, three of the four players from that group return, while the Broncos added two-time Pro Bowler Evan Engram in free agency and Caleb Lohner in the draft.
The Broncos gave Engram a two-year, $23 million contract, and head coach Sean Payton plans to use him in a mismatch-finding “Joker” role. However, he has an extensive injury history, whereas Fant has averaged nearly 16 games played and almost 14 starts in his career.
Lohner is a seventh-round pick with one year of limited collegiate experience, i.e., a project.
The Broncos still have trusted blocking tight end Adam Trautman and the versatile Nate Adkins, who also doubles as a fullback. Both of them are better blockers than Fant.
Still, Fant would give the Broncos a greater receiving threat and at least has the size to work in-line while Engram occupies the slot, presumably, as the Broncos’ de facto WR2 behind top-option Courtland Sutton.
Broncos-Seahawks Russell Wilson Trade Back Under Microscope
GettyRussell Wilson #3 of the Pittsburgh Steelers on the field before a game against the Cleveland Browns.
A first-round pick by the Broncos (No. 20 overall) in the 2019 draft, Fant spent three seasons in Denver. The Broncos traded Fant to the Seahawks in the deal that yielded Russell Wilson.
Some fans determined that Fant’s release signaled that the Broncos officially won the trade. Naturally, there was pushback, with many citing the volume of quality assets the Seahawks received.
The Broncos got Wilson and a fourth-round pick.
They signed Wilson to a five-year, $245 million contract extension. It was a source of contention internally, only to cut Wilson two years into the deal. That decision incurred an NFL-record $85 million dead cap hit, which they are still paying for in 2025.
The Broncos overcame that thanks to hitting on Bo Nix with the No. 12 overall pick in the 2024 draft. That is a driving force behind their efforts to build around him this offseason.
The player chosen with that pick, defensive lineman Eiyoma Uwazurike, is still under contract.
However, the Broncos gave the Seahawks Fant, former second-round pick QB Drew Lock, DL Shelby Harris, and the picks used to select two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Devon Witherspoon, and starters at left tackle (Charles Cross) and outside linebackers Boye Mafe and Derick Hall.
Reuniting with Fant is unlikely to sway opinions about who won that 2022 trade. It could help the Broncos win games in 2025.
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