The Saints are signing free agent tight end Noah Fant to a two-year deal, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. After stints with the Broncos, Seahawks, and Bengals, the 2019 first-round pick will join his fourth team in New Orleans.
Fant, 20, appeared in 15 games in 2025 as Cincinnati’s No. 2 tight end behind Mike Gesicki. He finished the year with 34 catches for 288 yards and three touchdowns in 15 games, the lowest production of his career. With it, though, came improved run-blocking relative to the rest of his career. He received a 58.9 grade from Pro Football Focus (subscription required), his second-highest in seven years behind a career-best 59.6 grade in 2023.
That element of Fant’s game will be crucial to his ability to extend his career since he has never broken through as a high-end pass-catcher. In New Orleans, he will operate alongside Juwan Johnson, who ranked third among NFL tight ends in 2025 with 889 receiving yards. The Saints used Foster Moreau and Jack Stoll as their blocking tight ends, but Fant will bring more receiving upside to that role.
First drafted by the Broncos in 2019, Fant never lived up to his billing as an elite receiving threat. He put up solid numbers in his first three years in Denver and could very well have been on his way to more if not for the Russell Wilson trade. Fant went to Seattle in the deal, and he languished in a Seahawks offense that did not prioritize its tight ends. Johnson ate up almost all of the Saints’ targets at the position in 2025, but Fant might be more capable of taking advantage of mismatches in the passing game than his predecessors.
Good riddance …. All he did was fumble in Cincy