Chicago Bears Free Agency Position Preview: Tight End

The Chicago Bears haven’t had a truly great tight end since the likes of Greg Olsen, and we all remember how that ended.

Even Martellus Bennett, who was very good, wasn’t in Chicago for very long. This is a position the Bears have long-needed to shore up for the future, and with Cole Kmet looking more and more the part, maybe they’ve finally done so.

Going into free agency of 2023, the Bears will have the option to pair Kmet with another veteran to allow for further developing of quarterback Justin Fields. It would be a great idea to give Fields two strong tight end options, and this year more than recent years, there are a lot of options.

Let’s look at the current state of the tight end position before free agency kicks off next month.

Cole Kmet was a bright spot for the Chicago Bears in 2022, and could be even better in 2023 with a running mate

Bears tight ends under contract for 2023:

Cole Kmet

Jake Tonges

Chase Allen

The only real, reliable option above is of course Cole Kmet, who broke out during the 2022 season and finally looked like the guy the Bears thought they were drafting in the second round. Although he ended the year with less receptions and yardage than 2021, Kmet went from scoring zero touchdowns to seven in 2022.

He really became one of the more favorable targets for Justin Fields, and with an improved offense and offensive line, overall, Kmet should be in line for his best season ever in 2023.

Bears free agent tight ends for 2023:

Ryan Griffin

Griffin was fine as the TE2, but more likely than not, the Bears will move on and find someone else who can take over the role. If they look at free agency, they have a ton of options.

Best available free agent tight ends in 2023:

Dalton Schultz

Mike Gesicki

Evan Engram

Austin Hooper

Robert Tonyan

Irv Smith

Hayden Hurst

Foster Moreau

Donald Parham

The free agent tight end class is as deep as it has been in a while, and the Bears could definitely opt to pair one of the above names with Kmet going into the 2023 campaign. Plenty of successful teams utilize two solid tight ends, and for a young quarterback, there’s something about a couple of big-bodied security blankets.

One that makes the most sense could end up being Irv Smith, who is still young enough to have a future in this league but has dealt with a slow start to his career due to injury. Foster Moreau is another sneaky name. He’s still relatively young, and has done a great job filling in when Darren Waller was hurt over the past couple of years.

Even the towering Donald Parham Jr. could be an underrated addition, as athletic and quick as he is. The Bears should absolutely make one of the above names an offseason signing so that they don’t have to use a draft pick on a mystery, because anybody listed above could be easily plugged in.