Former San Francisco 49ers tight end Eric Saubert has signed with a new team for the 2025 season, and surprisingly, it's within the NFC West. The veteran tight end has signed with the Seattle Seahawks.
Former #49ers TE Eric Saubert has signed with the #Seahawks pic.twitter.com/YSBiWDMM1l
— 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙎𝙁𝙉𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙨 (@TheSFNiners) March 24, 2025
Saubert will join former San Francisco quarterback Sam Darnold, who spent last year with the Minnesota Vikings and signed a three-year deal with the Seahawks in free agency.
As for the veteran tight end, he will join a loaded Seahawks’ tight end room after being the TE2 behind Geroge Kittle. Last offseason, Saubert signed a one-year deal with the 49ers after being with the Houston Texans and Dallas Cowboys in 2023.
Saubert wasn’t much of a receiving threat in San Francisco, as he only had 11 receptions (14 targets) for 97 yards in 17 games (three starts). But the 49ers found a role for Saubert as a blocking tight end, a good complement to Kittle.
The 31-year-old tight end will likely do the same thing with the Seahawks, who already have Noah Fant and AJ Barner.
Meanwhile, the 49ers will likely roll with Luke Farrell as their replacement for Barner. San Fran signed the former Jacksonville Jaguars tight end to a three-year, $16.23 million deal in the first week of free agency.
During his time with the Jaguars, Farrell was used predominantly as a run-blocking tight end. In his last three years in Jacksonville, the 26-year-old tight end blocked on over 70% of his snaps, per PFF.
Last year, Farrell blocked on 73.6% of his offensive snaps (390), which was the second-highest in his career. He also had 12 receptions (17 targets) for 67 yards. The 49ers hope Farrell can fill the void left by Saubert as their success in pass protection and run blocking are key in jumpstarting this offense.