There’s an old saying that goes, “if it feels too good, it probably is.” That can be said about free agent tight end Noah Fant. The former first-round pick decided against signing with the New Orleans Saints and instead will be joining the Cincinnati Bengals, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, who adds that it’s just a one-year deal.
The 27-year-old visited with the Bengals, the Saints and the Miami Dolphins during his weeklong free agency sweepstakes after being released by the Seattle Seahawks, who initially acquired him in a trade with the Denver Broncos. Cincinnati was the first place Fant visited, who must have set a bar too high for the others to surpass. It is not too surprising that a tight end hoping to prove himself and earn a big contract chose to go to an offense that is expected to be among the most explosive in the NFL, though New Orleans did seem to have the easiest path to playing time. Catching passes from Joe Burrow beats running routes for Spencer Rattler, Tyler Shough, or Jake Haener, or Tua Tagovailoa. The Bengals are also better positioned to compete in the playoffs than the Saints or Dolphins.
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Tight end has been a nightmare situation for the Saints so far this preseason. Taysom Hill is still dealing with the torn ACL he suffered back in Week 13 of last season. Foster Moreau opened training camp on the PUP list as he is still recovering from a knee injury that required surgery over the offseason. Then, during Wednesday’s training camp practice, both Juwan Johnson and free agent pickup Treyton Welch suffered injuries, though Johnson’s ailment doesn’t appear to be too serious.
It was a position group that had already been underperforming as of late, and Fant seemed like the perfect remedy. New Orleans will need to find a different source of juicing up their offense.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: NFL free agency: Noah Fant passes on Saints, Dolphins to join Bengals