If the Atlanta Falcons are serious about the idea of potentially moving on from tight end Kyle Pitts in a contract year, they just got some bad news that could possibly impact the quality of the offers they'll receive this summer. There's a new veteran tight end on the free agent market and it may serve as a distraction or pivot for any team that was entertaining making a major offer for Pitts. This new direction would come without the need for losing a draft pick in the process.
The Seattle Seahawks have waived veteran tight end Noah Fant — another tight end with a first round pedigree who boasts a dynamic athletic profile for teams to consider.
Seahawks released veteran tight end Noah Fant, the 2019 first-round pick who was acquired in the 2022 trade that sent Russell Wilson to Denver. Over the past three seasons in Seattle, Fant started 42 games and had 130 receptions for 1,400 yards and five touchdowns.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 20, 2025
Fant leaves Seattle after three seasons of play as the Seahawks lean into their younger group of tight ends. He's a sufficient level blocker but offers top-tier speed and athleticism for an NFL tight end, even if it hasn't translated to top-flight production throughout the bulk of his NFL career. Any team that may have been eyeing a tempting offer to send to Atlanta for Pitts can now find many of the same physical traits in Fant.
Fant did enter the NFL two years earlier in 2019 versus Pitts' arrival in 2021. But he ran within 0.06 seconds in the 40 yard dash, jumped six inches higher than Pitts in the vertical, ran three-tenths of a second faster in the three-cone drill, and ran more than a tenth of a second faster in the short shuttle.
Pitts has a more unique skill set thanks to his ability to play isolated as an 'X-receiver' and offers the higher ceiling as a result. Yet teams would almost assuredly gravitate towards another high-ceiling athlete at the position that wouldn't require a top-100 draft choice being sent away and will almost certainly play on a lower salary than Pitts' $10.8 million fifth-year option figure.
This isn't necessarily bad news for the Falcons' 2025 outlook and it may not slam the door shut on any potential offers. But if Fant ends up lingering on the market for a while, it could string things out to the point where the window for a trade closes and the Falcons roll full-steam ahead for Pitts' contract year.
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