Cole Kmet’s four-year, $50 million contract extension, with $38.2 million guaranteed, isn’t a blockbuster by NFL standards. But it carried significance that bodes well for the Bears, still in the early stages of a rebuild under general manager Ryan Poles.
Not only is Kmet a hometown player — from Lake Barrington/Arlington Heights and St. Viator High School — but he’s a homegrown player. A second-round pick by Ryan Pace in 2020, Kmet is the first player drafted by the Bears to get a second contract since safety Eddie Jackson (a fourth-round pick in 2017) in 2019.
