No sooner had word come down about the Dolphins trading tight end Jonnu Smith and cornerback Jalen Ramsey to Pittsburgh for safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, then the report about Miami seeking a tight end surfaced.
Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reported the Dolphins to be in conversations with "multiple teams," about trading for a tight end.
Immediately the overreactive section of Bears fans who frequent social media pointed at Cole Kmet and started throwing around all sorts of potential trade ideas, some with running back De'Von Achane coming to the Bears in exchange. D'Andre Swift was even thrown into some of these fictional and rash reactions.
Honestly, some of the numbers do line up for Kmet being dealt, not that they want to trade him. Kmet's contract removed from the Bears' payroll on a trade right now saves $10 million with a $1.6 million hit or dead cap.
However, the cap space is not something the Bears need at this moment.
What seems to escape everyone who talks about Kmet being traded is someone named Ben Johnson.
Johnson needs Kmet. He might need Kmet more than he needs another running back and definitely needs him more than he needs Achane.
This is because of his emphasis on 12-personnel packages, the two-tight end formations.
Kmet realized this when confronted by reporters at Halas Hall about the selection of tight end Colston Loveland.
"I'm excited about it," Kmet said. "I'm excited to not only push him but then for him to push me. We're going to make each other better.
"I think the goal with it is to become the best 12(-personnel) tandem in the league and see where we can take it from there."
The Lions started 11 games with an extra tight end last year and Johnson ran the team out there in those packages 38% of the time. They used it twice as often as the Bears did last year.
Detroit had a 49% success rate on those plays, according to Sports Info Solutions.
A successful play is 40% of yards to the sticks on first down, 60% of necessary yards on second down and 100% on third or fourth down. Not only did the Bears finish 20th in use of 12-personnel packages last year but when they used it they had the league's worst success rate according to SIS.com.
But Detroit had the sixth-highest success rate while using it the second most in the league, and a year earlier they had the second-best rate. They were doing it with Sam LaPorta and Brock Wright.
Obviously the Bears see tremendous potential for this package with Loveland as their version of LaPorta teamed with Kmet in the Wright role as in-line tight end.
If they trade Kmet, who then is their other 12-personnel tight end? Durham Smythe? He has 132 catches in seven seasons has been an average blocker and is an ideal third as someone who can play either the move tight end or in-line.
The idea isn't to have a good 12-personnel package. They can actually have the best one with Kmet and Loveland.
Also, the idea of trading Achane isn't necessarily something the Dolphins want to do even after drafting Ollie Gordon in Round 6. Achane isn't the physical back the Bears lack, anyway. He isn't even 190 pounds.
Beyond all of that, there are cap ramifications for Miami in trying to obtain a tight end who signed a $50 million contract extension just two years ago.
Ben Johnson has a vision for his offense and the Bears need to let him realize it with a potentially devastating 12-personnel package.
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