Here is (no) breaking news: The Seattle Seahawks will look much different offensively in 2025. Klint Kubiak has been hired as offensive coordinator after Ryan Grubb was let go after one season. Grubb will hopefully go down as one of head coach Mike Macdonald's worst coaching hires in his career.
Grubb should never have been hired. He had never coached in the NFL, and his college offense was structured around getting wide receivers open deep. That means a team would have to have a good offensive line for plays to develop, and Seattle did not have that. They did have something Grubb didn't use.
The tight end position has not been an important cog in Grubb's offensive plans. For Kubiak, good production out of that spot is essential to the efficiency of the offense. One player who likely was happy with Kubiak being hired was tight end Noah Fant, though that might be changing now.
Noah Fant faces fight for Seahawks future after Elijah Arroyo pick
Fant has good size and speed for a tight end, and he can run well after the catch. The problem under Grubb, and his predecessor Shane Waldron, is the Seahawks placed a much higher priority on getting the ball to wide receivers and tight ends had a much smaller route plan.
Fant was also not used as a red-zone threat. Since being traded to Seattle as part of the deal that sent Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos in 2022, Fant has just five touchdown receptions. Four of those were in his first season with the Seahawks. Between Week 17 of the 2022 season and Week 18 of last year, Fant had zero touchdown catches.
Fant is a solid receiver, but not overly productive. If the team cut him before the 2025 season, Seattle would save $8.9 million. This is what Pro Football Network's Sterling Xie sees as a probability for Fant and the Seahawks, especially after the team chose Miami's Elijah Arroyo in the second round of the 2025 NFL draft.
Xie wrote, "Fant is in the final year of his contract, making him a prime candidate to be moved if the Seahawks feel confident in the young Arroyo-(AJ) Barner duo...Fant’s time in Seattle is probably winding down with the draft investments the team has made at his position."
The issue with the argument of letting Fant go, though, is why now? If it wants to, Seattle still has more than $30 million to spend on free agency, so releasing Fant is unnecessary. Plus, general manager John Schneider is unlikely to spend much on any free agent that remains.
Kubiak might like a tight end room with Barner, Fant, and Arroyo. The group would be versatile and potentially explosive. Fant probably remains on the team through 2025, but that is the final year of his current deal with Seattle. He will likely be gone by 2026.
