{"id":215954,"date":"2025-02-11T10:00:02","date_gmt":"2025-02-11T15:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=215954"},"modified":"2025-02-10T14:06:23","modified_gmt":"2025-02-10T19:06:23","slug":"tight-end-needs-to-be-addressed-early-by-the-seattle-seahawks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/02\/11\/tight-end-needs-to-be-addressed-early-by-the-seattle-seahawks\/","title":{"rendered":"Tight end needs to be addressed early by the Seattle Seahawks"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Seattle Seahawks<\/a> are right there to be playoff threats. They might have made their second postseason appearance in three seasons if the dreadful home loss to the New York Giants didn\u2019t occur. That loss highlighted a key aspect that needs to be taken care of this off-season. In the loss to the Giants, starting tight end Noah Fant<\/a> caught three receptions for 24 yards while other pass-catchers were finding ways to get the ball thrown to them. It was a down year for the Seahawks\u2019 offense and its play-action, which should have been benefited by the tight ends. The tight end position is an area that might be addressed either in free agency or early in the 2025 NFL Draft.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tight end needs to be addressed early by the Seattle Seahawks<\/h2>\n

Options in free agency<\/b><\/h3>\n

Fant caught 48 receptions for 500 yards and a touchdown in 14 games. He is now set to earn $13.5 million in the final year of his contract in 2025. Fant has a potential out this off-season with a dead cap hit of $4.5 million. The Seahawks possess other key positions that need to be addressed through free agency, where Fant becomes a free-agent casualty. There are a few reliable tight ends set to be free agents this off-season, including Mike Gesicki<\/a> and Tyler Conklin<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gesicki had a solid start to his NFL career, including two 700-yard receiving yard seasons in the final two years of his four-year rookie contract. After his franchise tag year in 2022 with the Miami Dolphins<\/a>, Gesicki went to the New England Patriots<\/a> in 2023 where the team underutilized him. This season, Gesicki played on a one-year; $2.5 million deal with the Cincinnati Bengals<\/a>. He accounted for a more productive season by catching 65 receptions for 665 yards and two touchdowns.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Bengals might try to get Gesicki on a bigger deal considering they likely lose wide receiver Tee Higgins<\/a>. If the Bengals prefer to lose key role players and sign Higgins to a long-term deal, the Seahawks could make a serious upgrade at tight end.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Potential day two pick in the 2025 NFL Draft<\/b><\/h3>\n

The Seahawks possess several young assets at the skilled offensive positions. Fant is set to be 28 in mid-November and has some years left until he starts to slow down completely. Fant, however, has shown his peak in his early years with the Denver Broncos<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

If the Seahawks cut Fant and lose Pharoh Cooper<\/a> to free agency, the Seahawks will need a new starting tight end. They can get a reliable starting tight end early in the 2025 NFL Draft from either round two or three. Seattle has one pick in each of the first through the third rounds. They won\u2019t, however, possess a pick until the sixth round. The Seahawks have to get an offensive lineman in the first and potentially second round.<\/span><\/p>\n

If the Seahawks use a second or third-round pick on a tight end, where great talent remains. Michigan tight end Colston Loveland is an example of a high-value potential. He can be utilized in the passing game and as a run-blocker. In his last two seasons at Michigan, Loveland has caught 101 receptions for 1,231 yards and nine touchdowns. He possesses first-round talent and could be picked early in the second round. If Loveland slips to #50 because of his position, Seattle needs to seriously consider him.<\/span><\/p>\n

If the Seahawks wait until the third round for a tight end, there are still great options available. Bowling Green\u2019s Harold Fannin Jr., Texas\u2019 Gunnar Helm, Miami\u2019s Elijah Arroyo and LSU\u2019s Mason Taylor are potential day-one contributors<\/a>. Fannin had a monster year with the Falcons catching 117 receptions for 1,555 yards and 10 touchdowns. Arroyo and Taylor had excellent sessions in last week\u2019s 2025 Reese\u2019s Senior Bowl in front of head coach Mike MacDonald and the coaching staff.<\/span><\/p>\n

Main Photo: [Jayne Kamin-Oncea] – USA Today Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Seattle Seahawks might have to aim for a replacement at tight end early in free agency or high in the NFL Draft.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2349,"featured_media":215985,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[32605,33008,33300,33128,33014,3605,4534,33299,179],"class_list":["post-215954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-seahawks","tag-2025-nfl-draft","tag-2025-nfl-offseason","tag-colton-loveland","tag-harold-fannin-jr","tag-mason-taylor","tag-mike-gesicki","tag-noah-fant","tag-pharoh-cooper","tag-seattle-seahawks"],"modified_by":"Michael Zimmelman","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2349"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=215954"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215954\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":215986,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215954\/revisions\/215986"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/215985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=215954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=215954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=215954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}