Chicago Bears veteran tight end Cole Kmet suffered a non-contact injury and had to be carted off of the field in the team's Week 7 win over the New England Patriots. Based on the nature of the injury, it looked to be pretty serious. Head coach Ben Johnson did not offer much positivity on the injury after the game.
“I don’t think it looked very good,” said Johnson after the game.
He said he would have more updates later in the week, but the initial indication is that his 2026 season is over. With that said, his 2027 season might be spent with another team.
Cole Kmet may have played his last snap with Chicago
Kmet was already a trade target for many teams this year. The Bears drafted Colston Loveland in the top ten of the 2025 NFL Draft, then drafted Sam Roush in the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft. Their tight end room of the future was built, and Kmet was not a part of it.
While the two young names developed, the Bears still leaned on Kmet. However, they will challenge their depth now, and Roush will get more experience than expected in his rookie season. The odds are that he will come into year two ready for a bigger role.
This will make it hard to justify keeping Kmet. Kmet signed a four-year, $50M extension in 2023. The 2027 season will be the last year of his deal. However, the Bears could release him or trade him, and they would save over $10M in cap space.
Most teams would offer a late pick to take his salary off of the Bears' plate, and the team would be insane not to take the deal after his injury and the potential progress of Roush.
Quarterback Caleb Williams had nothing but good things to say about Kmet and what he has meant to his career.
"Cole's been there for me every step of the way, through the first year, through the second year, and now through this year,” said Williams. “I don't have the words to describe what Cole is to me, what Cole is to this team. I'll be right there with him through every step of whatever the injury is."
That was almost an acknowledgment that he knows the two are not going to play with each other anymore. Kmet will recover and likely end up traded or on the free agent market.
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