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Despite coming off their best season in four years, the Seattle Seahawks are currently wrapping up a crucial offseason. The team is in store for wholesale changes with just five offensive starters returning. However, coming off a promising rookie showing, the Seahawks are high on tight end AJ Barner, whom they expect to be a big part of the offense in 2025.
Barner's numbers did not jump off the page, with just 30 catches for 245 yards and four touchdowns on the year. But despite most expecting him to be a long-term project, he recorded a 45 percent snap share that closely rivaled veteran Noah Fant's 51 percent rate. Fant was unsurprisingly the much more productive pass-catcher, ending the year with 500 receiving yards, but Barner slowly caught up to him in that department as the season progressed.
By the end of the year, Fant and Barner were practically on even ground. Fant was supposed to be the receiving tight end, with Barner contributing as a blocker, but the latter slowly started to carve out a larger role in the passing game. As the Seahawks reconstructed their entire offense in the offseason, they added athletic rookie Elijah Arroyo in the 2025 NFL Draft before subsequently releasing Fant before the start of training camp.
The series of moves leaves Barner as the de facto starter, though Arroyo will undoubtedly factor in. Yet, everything can change before the start of the regular season with new quarterback Sam Darnold now running the show. The Seahawks clearly believe in Barner becoming a significant part of the offense, but he will need to continue growing in 2025 if they are to achieve success.
Seahawks need AJ Barner to take strides in 2025
Without Fant in the picture, Barner is the Seahawks' top returning tight end in 2025. Veteran journeyman Eric Saubert and undrafted rookie Nick Kallerup complete the offseason position group, but Barner and Arroyo are the clear leaders.
The biggest change in the Seahawks' offense comes under center, with Darnold replacing Geno Smith. The move is somewhat of a gamble, with Darnold having just one successful season in his seven-year career. Regardless, with Klint Kubiak replacing Ryan Grubb as offensive coordinator, head coach Mike Macdonald clearly seems to want to open up the passing game.
Kubiak worked for the New Orleans Saints in 2024, where he achieved considerable success with their tight ends. Two of the team's top three receivers at the end of the year were tight ends, including Juwan Johnson's team-leading 548 receiving yards. The season was not a full evaluation of Kubiak's skills due to Derek Carr's constant injuries, but the renowned coach has also had success with tight ends in previous roles with the San Francisco 49ers and Denver Broncos.
The Saints threw the ball at a mid-level rate in 2024, but were much more aggressive with Carr in the lineup. Before injuries slowed him down, Carr averaged 25.6 pass attempts through the first five weeks, ranking in the top 10 of the league at the time. Expect Kubiak to increase the Seahawks' passing volume in 2025.
Barner is still primarily used as a blocker, but showed significant strides in his receiving skills in 2024. His 245 receiving yards may not look like much, but it nearly matched his career-high 249 receiving yards in his lone season at Michigan. Most notably, Seattle utilized his size heavily in the red zone, where he recorded a team-high 10.9 percent target share. As good as Arroyo is in between the 20-yard lines, he had just eight total touchdowns in his four-year collegiate career.
Seahawks' offense could look much different in 2025
The Seahawks will not only debut a new quarterback and offensive coordinator, but they also parted ways with DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett in the offseason. Metcalf and Lockett led the team's passing attack for the better part of a decade but saw their tenures simultaneously end in the 2025 offseason.
The influx of changes confirms the team's belief in Jaxon Smith-Njigba moving forward, as well as their confidence in AJ Barner's growth. Barner hated the narrative that he was only a blocking tight end during the pre-draft process, according to the team's website, which allowed him to truly appreciate how the Seahawks have supported his growth as an all-around player.
Barner will not only have Arroyo nipping at his heels from the start, but he will also have to compete with free agent acquisition Cooper Kupp for mid-level targets. However, Kupp has increasingly been used on out routes late in his career, while Barner has been most effective over the middle of the field. Darnold opened up his full arsenal in 2024, but has historically favored his targets over the middle.
With the Seahawks set to functionally debut a new team in the fall, setting expectations for the team is challenging. However, if they are to have any meaningful success, particularly offensively, they need AJ Barner to break out as a legitimate full-time starting tight end in 2025.
