What the rest of the Chicago Bears' offseason looks like remains to be seen, and the same could be said for tight end Cole Kmet's time in the Windy City.
Entering his seventh NFL season, Kmet's future has been up in the air ever since the Bears drafted fellow TE Colston Loveland 10th overall last April. Although he ended up surviving the trade deadline and helping Chicago to a playoff berth, Kmet's outlook reverted to being unclear as soon as the offseason began, mainly due to the team's lack of salary cap space ($219,549 remaining, per OverTheCap).
With the 2026 draft right around the corner, the Bears might want to get their financial situation straightened out — especially with training camp growing nearer by the day. That's why general manager Ryan Poles might want to explore trading Kmet in the coming days, as he's easily Chicago's top trade piece.
It's Time for Bears to Trade Cole Kmet
There was a time when it would've been silly to think about trading Kmet. The 2020 draft's 43rd-overall selection had a career year in 2023, as he set personal bests in catches (73) and receiving yards (719) while finding the end zone six times, making it look like the Bears made the right call to sign him to a four-year, $50 million extension before that season even began.
Unfortunately, he hasn't come close to matching those numbers since then.
Kmet followed up his breakout performance with an underwhelming 47-474-4 stat line across 17 games in 2024. His numbers continued to regress last season (30-347-2 in 16 games), likely stemming from Loveland's arrival, as the promising pass-catcher notched 713 yards and six TDs on 58 catches as a rookie.
With Loveland set to take the next step in Year 2, it makes sense for the Bears to try shopping Kmet ahead of the draft. For starters, a deal would help with their financial situation, as a trade would create $7.4 million in cap space, according to Spotrac. A post-June 1 trade would see that number increase to $9 million. However, the difference is small enough that Chicago should still be willing to strike a deal in the next few weeks.
Shopping Kmet before the draft also makes sense, considering that TE-needy teams may not have filled their voids in free agency. This year's free-agent tight end class was fairly weak, so once guys like Isaiah Likely, Cade Otton, and Chig Okonkwo came off the board, the remaining pickings were slim.
That's why the Bears should use that situation to trade Kmet as soon as possible. Even though last season's performance was among the worst of his career, he was a 700-yard TE just two years before that. Given that he's only 27 years old, it wouldn't be surprising if there's a team out there that believes he can return to form.
The 2026 NFL Draft will feature TE prospects like Oregon's Kenyon Sadiq, Vanderbilt's Eli Stowers, and Ohio State's Max Flare. Once those names are off the board, likely before Day 2 is over, it will be the perfect opportunity for the Bears to shop Kmet. Even if the return isn't mind-blowing, moving on from him to open cap space and more breathing room for Loveland makes too much sense to ignore.