Top 26 Chicago Bears of 2026 Season: Cole Kmet Faces a Career-Defining Season

After quarterback Caleb Williams, arguably the most exciting young member of the Chicago Bears is tight end Colston Loveland, who capped off a phenomenal rookie season last year by setting an NFL record in the Bears' Divisional round loss to the L.A. Rams. His ascendancy has led to speculation that veteran tight end Cole Kmet is as good as gone at the first opportunity, but Kmet is no lame duck, and he's still going to be a pivotal part of Chicago's offense in 2026.

It's for that reason that Kmet lands at No. 16 in the Bears on SI's rankings of the Top 26 Chicago Bears of the 2026 season.

Cole Kmet is a model 'Y' tight end

From his impressive stature and physique to his on-field play, Cole Kmet is the very picture of the traditional in-line, or 'Y', tight end: a big-bodied player who can run reasonable routes, make tough catches, and hold his own in pass protection. For six years, he's been a dependable member of this offense, and at times the lone bright spot. Additionally, Cole Kmet's iron man streak of 90 games stretched from his rookie season through last year, where he missed his first, and thus far only, game.

Kmet may never put up the kind of gaudy stats we see from the Travis Kelce's of the NFL, but he earned every penny of his four-year, $50 million contract extension he signed in 2024. In 2023, despite receiver D.J. Moore commanding the lion's share of the targets, Kmet still hauled in 90 catches for 719 yards and six touchdowns. He's proven that he can be a key player in the passing game, but since that season, there's just been too many mouths to feed in Chicago.

To put it simply, every NFL team wants a Cole Kmet on the roster, and that's something that the Bears' coaches seem to understand.

Ben Johnson's coaching style needs Cole Kmet

The style of football played in the NFL typically progresses in fads and trends. Right now, one of the biggest trends for offenses is to utilize 12- and 13-personnel far more than in recent years, which means running plays with two or three tight ends on the field. Naturally, the Chicago Bears are leading the curve in this development under the coaching of offensive savant Ben Johnson.

The Bears ran more 12-and 13-personnel than almost anyone in 2025. They used a valuable third-round pick in the 2026 NFL draft to select Stanford tight end Sam Roush just for that reason. Ben Johnson wants to use multiple tight ends, and he's not willing to settle for any tight end with a pulse. He needs players he can trust to do their jobs without being micromanaged, and that's why Kmet is still an extremely valuable member of this offense.

As a proven veteran, Kmet remains a threat every time he steps on the field, and the emergence of Loveland will only help him in 2026. With defenses forced to account for the much more mobile Loveland, an in-line tight end like Kmet should see much softer cushions from defenders and thus, more targets.

I'm not going to project a career-year for Kmet. Not with Loveland emerging as a young star in a Ben Johnson offense that likes to run the ball a lot. However, I would be comfortable predicting Kmet to get back over 500 yards receiving and to haul in four touchdowns.

Is Cole Kmet entering his last season as a Chicago Bear?

Having said all that, it wouldn't be fair to ignore the business side of football. Kmet is currently earning $14 million per year on average. Compared to other players at other positions, this is hardly an unbearable cost for the Bears, and the salary cap continues to skyrocket.

However, if all goes well for the Bears in 2026, they're going to have a very good, very expensive problem on their hands. Quarterback Caleb Williams will be eligible for a contract extension next year, as will receiver Rome Odunze. Given how high the quarterback and receiver markets have gone in recent years, we could be looking at the two biggest contracts in Chicago Bears history hitting the books at the same time.

If that's the future for the Bears, general manager Ryan Poles will need to find savings anywhere he can, and it might make sense to start with the backup tight end playing on a starter's contract. If this is to be Kmet's last season with the team that drafted him, one can only hope that it ends with a Super Bowl championship for the longest-tenured player on the team.

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