Windy City Gridiron
In this series, we will look at which Chicago Bears players need to step up their play to match their pay in 2025.
Expectations are a tricky thing. One of the safest ways to fan over the years is to set the bar low and not expect much from your team. We Chicago Bears fans know this well. I couldn’t help but think of one of the all-time great MADtv skits as I began this series.
However, with Ben Johnson now calling the shots in Chi-town and Caleb Williams under center, times are looking up for The Beloved. With over $64 million in cap space and 4 picks in the top 75 of this upcoming NFL Draft, Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles has plenty of resources at his disposal to improve the team moving forward. But what about the players currently under contract? In this series, we will highlight ten players who need to step up their play to justify their contract while simultaneously helping the team win more games.
Next up at #9, we have Tight End, Cole Kmet.
Kmet’s place in these rankings has more to do with his usage than anything, though he does have the 5th highest cap hit for the 2025 Bears at $11,600,000, which is 12th best amongst TE’s, league-wide. Take a look at Kmet’s usage rate last year compared to his first few years in the league.
Clearly, Shane Waldron and Co. opted not to feature Kmet enough on the offense. Considering he led all TEs with an insanely impressive 85.5% catch rate and Lions’ TE Sam LaPorta has been targeted more than 200 times combined in his first two seasons in league with Ben Johnson calling plays, I expect Kmet to bounce back big-time here.
While his targets, catches, yards and TD’s have not been this low in years, he still produced a career high in both success rate and catch rate with 70.9% and 85.5% respectively. Take a look at his 2024 stats:
47 catches for 474 yards and 4 TDs
Again, I fully expect the Notre Dame product to bounce back in a big way and make his contract seem like a bargain, but until that happens, he makes the list here at number 9. That said, it is important to point out the obvious here. This list is not as much of an indictment on the players listed as it is an assessment of the value needed of each player for this upcoming season.
9. Cole Kmet
