While speaking with reporters last week, Seattle Seahawks tight end and 2019 first-round draft pick Noah Fant said that he didn't know if his new employer planned to exercise the fifth-year option attached to his rookie contract.
Per ESPN's Adam Schefter and Field Yates, that's no longer the case:
Seahawks’ TE Noah Fant has become the first player from the 2019 draft class to have his fifth-year option picked up, per league sources.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 12, 2022
TE Noah Fant becomes the first player the Seahawks have ever picked up their 5th year option on.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) April 12, 2022
The team previously declined it on 4 other first rounders, while Seattle did not use a 1st round pick in 2013-2015 and 2017.
DE L.J. Collier’s 5th year option is unlikely.
According to Jeff Legwold of ESPN, Fant's option will guarantee him a $6.85 million salary for the 2023 season.
Fant joined the Seahawks last month when the Denver Broncos traded the 24-year-old, quarterback Drew Lock, defensive end Shelby Harris, and multiple high-valued draft assets to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for one-time Super Bowl champion signal-caller Russell Wilson.
As noted by ESPN stats, Fant finished the 2021 season leading the Broncos with 68 receptions, and he also contributed 670 receiving yards and four touchdowns. For his career, he has 170 catches for 1,905 yards and 10 scores.
Currently, Lock is atop Seattle's depth chart, but the Seahawks have routinely been linked with former Cleveland Browns starter Baker Mayfield in rumors.
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