After getting a game-changing jack-of-all-trades defender early in the second round, Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider used the 50th pick in the 2025 draft to give Sam Darnold a new weapon on offense.
This is the second straight year that Schneider has chosen a tight end. A.J. Barner should continue improving as the inline primary blocking option. The arrival of Miami’s Elijah Arroyo puts veteran Noah Fant on alert.
Arroyo is a prototypical tight end athlete with the skills to flex out wide or play inline. He has speed and hands and averaged an exceptional 16.9 yards per catch in 2024. That was the type of production the Denver Broncos expected out of Fant when they drafted him in the first round back in 2019.
Elijah Arroyo gives the Seahawks the type of tight end that modern offenses are employing with increasing frequency
Despite occasional flashes, Fant has not been able to consistently make big plays, either in Denver or in Seattle. He has a career yards-per-catch average of just 11 and has managed just 15 touchdowns in 95 NFL games.
Seattle needs far more out of its tight end, especially with its wide receiving corps in a state of flux. Arroyo gives Darnold a dynamic pass catcher who can run seams and can be a monster in the open field. The NFL has evolved into a league in which two-tight end sets are increasingly common.
At least one of those players has to be a dangerous pass catcher. In the run-up to the draft, I had been pushing for Seattle to spend its first-round pick on Colston Loveland, but the Michigan tight end was gone by the 18th pick.
Now Schneider has added a reasonable facsimile. Arroyo was not as consistently productive as Loveland or Carter Warren. That's what makes this pick something of a gamble. He only had one good year in college.
But if Seahawks coach Mack Brown, who has more experience coaching wide receivers than tight ends, can unlock Arroyo's natural ability and help him grow into a consistent professional, Seattle’s offense just grew more dynamic.
Fant has just one year remaining on his contract, so Arroyo slots in as his replacement in 2026. However, should Arroyo prove he is ready sooner, Fant could find himself a cap casualty. He is currently carrying a cap hit of more than 13 million dollars for 2025, which is a bad value given his production.
His dead cap hit is $4.5 million. Arroyo may be too raw to step into a significant role immediately. But you can bet Seattle will be monitoring progress very closely.
With Barner and H-back Brady Russell in the fold, Arroyo helps rebuild an aging tight end group. Pharoah Brown is off to Miami. Veteran Eric Saubert has arrived as a veteran blocking presence. The arrival of Arroyo has little effect on Saubert.
But it could have an enormous impact on Noah Fant, who came to town as part of the Russell Wilson trade back in 2022. The Hawks recently brought back another piece of that franchise-altering trade when they signed Drew Lock to compete for the backup QB spot.
But Fant, the most productive of the three veterans who came to Seattle, could find his days in the northwest numbered. Elijah Arroyo is the latest addition to the offense that John Schneider began rebuilding when he traded Geno Smith and DK Metcalf at the end of the 2024 season.