Bears $50 Million Pass-Catcher Among NFL’s Top Trade Candidates

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Tight end Cole Kmet of the Chicago Bears.

The Chicago Bears are re-imagining a sluggish offense from last year under new head coach Ben Johnson, which is good news for most of the offensive roster but potentially the end of the line for a couple of others.

Among those players who could be facing the trade block in the coming weeks and months is tight end Cole Kmet. He has been a stalwart in the Bears lineup since the team drafted him five years ago, playing in all 84 regular-season games over that stretch and starting the vast majority of those.

Kmet has tallied nearly 2,600 receiving yards and 19 TDs on 258 catches across his five-year NFL career and could make for an excellent No. 2 tight end alongside rookie Colston Loveland, who the team selected No. 10 overall in April’s draft. Johnson ran plenty of 12 personnel (two tight-end sets) during his three seasons as the offensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions and replicating that strategy in Chicago would make plenty of sense.

The issue, however, is that Kmet is on a $50 million contract. Loveland is making just over half of that across the same four-year run ($26.7 million) on his rookie deal, which means the Bears have nearly $77 million locked up in the top two players at the position group all told.

Kmet, 26, still has three more seasons remaining on his contract, while Loveland has the four plus a team option in 2029. From a salary cap standpoint, transitioning to Loveland as the No. 1 tight end, trading Kmet to a team that needs a viable, healthy, productive option at a position of ever-increasing importance and looking younger and less expensive for a TE2 is a logical path for Chicago to tread.

Multiple Teams Would Likely Be Interested in Young, Productive Tight End Like Cole Kmet

GettyChicago Bears tight end Cole Kmet.

Given that context, Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report dubbed Kmet the No. 3 player on his top-10 post-minicamp trade big board, which published on Saturday, June 21.

Knox mentioned both the Los Angeles Chargers and the Kansas City Chiefs as potential landing spots for Kmet in a trade.

“[Kmet] is set to carry a cap hit of $11.6 million in each of the next three seasons, which is a lot for a second tight end. Chicago could save $10 million in 2025 cap space by trading him,” Knox wrote. “The Chargers should consider Kmet as they look to improve Justin Herbert’s receiving corps. … The Kansas City Chiefs should also consider taking a flier on Kmet if he’s available. Travis Kelce is still holding down the starting job, but he’ll turn 36 in October. The Chiefs could view Kmet as a potential successor to Kelce and a great complementary option behind Kelce.”

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Bears Can Replace Some of Cole Kmet’s Workload With Revamped Wide Receiver Room

GettyTight end Cole Kmet of the Chicago Bears.

Kmet’s trade value may end up a Day-2 draft asset, but that’s still a meaningful pick.

Combining that extra selection along with the $10 million in savings in each of the next three seasons Chicago could procure by dealing Kmet, doing so provides significant upside for a team ostensibly on the rise in a highly competitive NFC North Division.

The Bears also drafted slot receiver Luther Burden III early in the second round, who could shoulder some of Kmet’s work load as the WR3 alongside DJ Moore and Rome Odunze.