Cole Kmet isn’t going anywhere.
Ryan Poles has committed to the Chicago Bears tight end, giving him a four-year contract extension.
Another deal: Bears and TE Cole Kmet reached agreement on a four-year, $50 million extension, including $32.8 million guaranteed and $20 million in new first-year cash, per me and @FieldYates.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 26, 2023
The contract structuring makes a lot of sense. The Bears still have to spend by the end of the 2023 season to hit the salary floor (About $15 million more according to PFF’s Brad Spielberger) and they still have plenty of cap space next year as well. Kmet will see a big cash infusion early in this contract which will make the later years of this contract pretty cap friendly (probably around $11 million). With the early money as well, if Kmet doesn’t continue to develop like Poles is expecting, they can most likely get out of this contract after 2025 with very little dead money afterwards.
Poles spoke highly of Kmet in January and extending him prior to the 2023 season was always the expectation. This is the first player from the Ryan Pace regime that Poles has committed to be a part of his team moving forward. Two other players that are potential candidates for contract extensions this offseason are Darnell Mooney and Jaylon Johnson. We will see if either of these two see a commitment from the Bears and a hefty contract in their future.
