The Bengals are expected to sign veteran tight end Noah Fant, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The Bengals released undrafted rookie Kole Taylor in a corresponding move, per Schefter.
Fant was released by the Seahawks on July 20 and quickly lined up a visit with the Bengals. Fant left Cincinnati without a deal and met with the Saints and the Dolphins but quickly circled back to the opportunity to catch passes from Joe Burrow.
Fant will now join a Bengals tight end room led by Mike Gesicki and Drew Sample. The former first-round pick will likely be an upgrade over 31-year-old Tanner Hudson, who has been a reliable, inexpensive third tight end in Cincinnati with 58 catches for 506 yards over the last two years. Fant nearly hit those numbers last year alone with a total of 1,400 yards over his last three years in Seattle and a career average of 550 yards per season.
The six-year veteran also brings some versatility to the tight end position that the Bengals currently lack. Sample is largely an inline blocker while Gesicki played almost all of his snaps last year in the slot or out wide. Fant can do all three, which will give head coach Zac Taylor plenty of ways to get him on the field.
The Bengals will be Fant’s third team after he was drafted by the Broncos in 2019 and sent to the Seahawks as part of the Russell Wilson trade in 2022. Fant then became the first Seahawk to see his fifth-year option picked up, which the team did upon acquiring him in 2022. The Seahawks still leaned mostly on D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett during Fant’s first two years with the team, but they still re-signed him to a two-year, $21MM deal in 2024. Seattle then drafted Elijah Arroyo in this year’s second round; the team will lean on the Miami product after releasing Fant just before training camp.
The former No. 20 pick may not be an elite receiving threat, having never eclipsed 700 yards in a season, but he has been consistent; Fant’s 3,305 career receiving yards are the 10th-most among tight ends since he entered the NFL. After featuring mostly low-octane tight end contributors following Tyler Eifert‘s slew of injuries, Cincinnati has added two receiving threats over the past two offseasons. The team re-signed Gesicki (three years, $25.5MM) in March and will pair him with an intriguing late-summer addition.
No money for Hendrickson though
Or the other 10 D positions and depth.
Look the plan is simple… Average 40 points a game instead of 30. The defense just has to hold them to under 40!
How much could they possibly be giving Fant? A quarter of a year worth of Hendrickson money?
Not that they’re the same type of tight end, but I wonder if this indicates they’re not counting on Erick All contributing much this year.
All had already been ruled out for this year. This is a good signing. With him Giseki , along with Chase and Higgins … will certainly spread the D and open up the run.
Hendrickson was offered a substantial increase. I’m not as hung up on it as I guess a lot of people are. He doesn’t do anything well except sack the qb. Terrible run stopper. Not sure why people can’t see that
An all-pro level pass rusher who’s only ok against the run is still a very valuable player. The Giants traded a second round pick for the right to give Brian Burns way more guaranteed money than the Bengals seem to be offering Hendrickson.
I respect your opinion but disagree … rather invest Myles and Max money into a more rounded player. They offered close to 30 million which is more than enough for a 1 trick pony. Again … simply my opinion.
Not only wrong but ridiculous view. This is the typical response from Bengals fans who think the Browns and FO have even a ckue of hiw to run a team. Typical kool aid drinker.
Pertinent information: that was considered a steal of a trade and it’d look silly if you don’t extend a guy you just traded for a draft pick. Also Brian Burns was like 24, not 30… So the comparable is a bit of a stretch.
I wasn’t saying they were exactly the same, just that Burns is an example of how highly the league values a high level pass rusher even if he isn’t a very good run defender. Heck, Bryce Huff got $34 million in guarantees and he was just a rotational pass rusher who didn’t start and was awful against the run as a Jet.
But also look at Burns from this perspective: Yes, he was much younger, but: -He got $76 million in guarantees when the cap was about 9% lower and the top edge salaries were lower.
-He had had one double digit sack season in his five year career and had five fewer sacks his last three seasons in Carolina combined than Hendrickson has had the last two.
-Given that Houston effectively traded a second round pick to save $10 million in cap space with the Brock Osweiler trade when the cap was only 65% what it was at the time of the Burns trade, we’d think that second round pick traded for Burns was valued at another $15 million or so according to teams.
I totally understand, it’s just that sports organizations are obsessed with players “entering their prime” so the guaranteed money will reflect that. Anyone 30+ will struggle to land a 4-5 year contract unless they’re elite.
For sure. But if the issue is the Bengals refusing to guarantee significant money past the first year and two years guaranteed at about the level of Danielle Hunter’s new money, that seems like a pretty reasonable precedent.
Leader in sack over two years, top 3 in oressures and hits on a line with not one singke other threat and still a top DE. That’s elite enough.
Yay! Let’s not even try running the ball this year! Gesicki and Fant are glorified WR’s. $65MM+ APY at WR.
Zac and Duke……. I can’t believe you think your team is built in any reasonable way.
It will be an entertaining product.
Perhaps. I feel like Gesicki already does what Fant does, and if you have a second TE that sees snaps, that’s understandable player should run block well. The Saints are a worse team, but he’d fit much better there as a volume pass catcher. The Dolphins are missing a lead TE, even if they ask a lot in terms of blocking.
I feel like this may have been the best team to offer Fant (that we know of), and that he made a good choice in that regard (and if anyone can use multiple targets effectively, it’s Burrow), so I wouldn’t be too hung up on this, but I also think that there were a couple of better fits role-wise in terms of production potential. Still, Fant is joining what should be a potent offense, even if his role individually might not lead to the most gaudy personal numbers.
Burrow is overrated. Hyoed to the end and won zero in reality with elite talent.
I agree, Spaced-Cowboy. With Fant added to the target list, the Bengals will be one of the best watches every Sunday. Hopefully a few new guys on defense will play over their heads with such exciting games on the line every week, requiring just a stop or two to win at 52-45.
Everyone acting like this is a big win and Fant was a catch. Guy is average, very reason Seahawks let him go, and why every other team he visited were in dire need of a TE. He’s barely stRting level.