Bears TE Cole Kmet back for seventh season, says, 'Never really felt I would be playing anywhere else'

The moment the Bears surprisingly drafted tight end Colston Loveland with the No. 10 pick a year ago, mainstay Cole Kmet’s future with the team got cloudy. While new coach Ben Johnson planned to use two tight ends, Kmet’s big salary raised questions about how much longer he’d be with the team.

Kmet openly wondered about that last season, but even after one of his least productive seasons as a pass catcher, he trusted that Johnson and general manager Ryan Poles valued his subtle contributions to the NFL’s No. 6 offense.

“I did a lot of the things they asked me to do,” Kmet said Monday at the start of the Bears’ offseason training program. “Got to my exit meeting with them about right after the game against L.A., and if you were to ask me right after that, I didn’t think I was going anywhere. Kind of felt that throughout the offseason.

“I also understand that if an offer comes across their plate for them to make a move or them to make a change, they would definitely do that, [but] I never really felt I would be playing anywhere else this year.”

Kmet, 27, is going into his seventh season with the Bears and is one of three holdovers from general manager Ryan Pace’s tenure along with kicker Cairo Santos and cornerback Jaylon Johnson. Poles gave him a four-year, $50 million contract extension that began in 2024, but it has affordable outs going into this season and next.

The Bears are set to pay Kmet $11.6 million each of the next two seasons, but can cut him with a $4.2 million dead-salary-cap hit this year or a $1.6 million hit after the season.

They were in a cap crunch this offseason, but prioritized keeping Kmet and chose to trade wide receiver DJ Moore to the Bills and release linebacker Tremaine Edmunds.

That decision came despite Loveland showing huge promise last season and Kmet finishing with just 30 catches for 347 yards and two touchdowns — his second-lowest total in each category.

“The two tight ends are paramount,” Kmet said. “It might not always be in the passing game. There were a lot of things I had to do in pass [blocking] and the run game that proved to be very valuable for the team. I saw that, and more importantly, Ben and Ryan really recognized that as well.”

Two years earlier, Kmet had a career year with 73 catches for 719 yards and six touchdowns.

Much like Moore, the dip in production last season wasn’t entirely on him.

Quarterback Caleb Williams was up and down throughout his first season playing under Johnson and finished 22nd in passer rating (90.1) and last in completion percentage (58.1), and Johnson emphasized establishing a diverse array of skill players to make the Bears less predictable.

Loveland led the team with 58 catches, which ranked 51st in the league, and Moore was next with 50.

Kmet could be important to Johnson in several aspects this season, which would justify keeping his salary on the books.

Johnson often has highlighted the value of being able to line Kmet up inside or outside and his savvy as a blocker. The Bears’ key skill also are very inexperienced, with Loveland, Rome Odunze, Luther Burden and Kyle Monangai all going into their second or third season. Having someone as reliable as Kmet to lead them could make a big difference.