Cole Kmet has been one of the better players the Chicago Bears have drafted in the past decade. His steadiness, versatility, and locker room presence were big reasons the team locked him up to a contract extension. There haven’t been any indications that the organization is dissatisfied with him. Sure, his 2024 season was disappointing with just 474 yards and four touchdowns. However, much of that came from a crappy offensive system mixed with a rookie quarterback.
Kmet just turned 26 years old. He’s in his physical prime and remains under contract at a reasonable price. There is no reason to think the tight end is on the outs with the team. However, one person isn’t so sure of that. Kurt Benkert is a former quarterback who played in the NFL for six seasons. He now covers the league for Bleacher Report. He covered his list of players he thinks will be cut or traded in the next few months. Right at the top of it was Kmet. His reasons had multiple points.
This Cole Kmet take is illogical for multiple reasons.
Let’s start with the money. Benkert is assuming that the Bears are starved for cap space. This is not true. As of writing this, they have just over $14.7 million to work with. That is more than enough to secure their draft class and make any minor moves necessary during the upcoming season. Unloading a proven player like Cole Kmet for what would amount to $100,000 in cap space for cutting him is nonsensical. A trade is the only option. That would free up $10 million and bring back a draft pick in return. Outside of that scenario, nothing about this prediction makes sense. Kmet is still a good player. There is no reason to think he and rookie Colston Loveland can’t coexist in the same offense. The only way something like this happens is if Kmet himself pushes for it.
@Skeeter, I feel that all fan bases have love for players that don’t deserve that level of respect. I was talking generally, and not calling you or anyone else out. I’ve seen many posts here that declare that Kmet is some proven exceptional TE and shouldn’t be challenged. Or that the position is set with him so don’t draft anyone to add to that position. I see the same things about his overall talent that everyone sees. He is big, he isn’t as athletic as he was sold to be, he’s had drop issues, he isn’t a great blocker so… Read more »
We didn’t need a tight end 1. Kmet proved 2 seasons ago he can be the man. This talk about Ben Johnson’s 2 tight end sets is overblown. The 2nd tight end on Detroit had 100 yards receiving for the season last year. Wasn’t a fan of the Loveland pick at all. They could’ve gotten the difference maker at RB, Safety, Tackle or D-line
@Krisanthony I think we agree that last years offensive system was a contributing factor in our team being last in many statistical categories. I also agree that the word dynamic was maybe a tad bit over the top describing Kmet and his play the year prior to last. Where we don’t agree is the characterization of fans having a level of love for certain players. Please never include me in that type of analogy, I don’t give a rats ass about any player because I like them, in the NFL the goal or the point is to win. In fact… Read more »
Skye that’s what really irks me about average TEs like Kmet, they are just so damn mediocre.
Injuries happen throughout the season. Kmet can be a TE1. Colston is healing from a shoulder injury and is a rookie. The roster is solid as is. Time to move on to better topics like Caleb’s development under Johnson. That is truly the main thing that will make or break this season.