Tight end Noah Fant, a 2019 first-round pick and a piece of the trade that sent Russell Wilson, was recently cut by the Seahawks. Seattle coach Mike Macdonald made his first visit with reporters on Wednesday since Fant was abruptly released.
Inevitably, Macdonald was asked about the decision to move on just before camp opened from a player who had 48 regular-season appearances in three seasons, and who added 500 receiving yards in 2025.
The transcript released by the team doesn’t do justice to the Abbott-and-Costello vibe conveyed in the version posted by Michael-Shawn Dugar of TheAthletic.com.
Question: What happened with Noah Fant?
Mike: What happened with Noah?
Question: Why release him now?
Mike: We released him a few days ago.
Question: Why?
Mike: I’m not going to tell you exactly why. There’s multiple reasons.
The most obvious reason would be financial. Fant had a non-guaranteed base salary of $8.49 million in 2025. A season-ending injury early in camp would have stuck the Seahawks with that full amount.
It’s possible that the Seahawks approached Fant about taking less, and that he balked at their offer of a reduced deal.
So the “multiple reasons” could be as simple as this. One, we thought he was making too much this season. Two, we wanted to pay him less. Three, he rejected our offer of a reduced deal.
Fant, now a free agent, reportedly will visit the Bengals on Thursday.
