The Denver Broncos made a mistake at the 2025 NFL trade deadline that might have cost them a chance at playing in the Super Bowl by not trading for Miami Dolphins wide receiver Jaylen Waddle.
While the Broncos tried to rectify the mistake this offseason by swapping a 1st-round pick for Waddle in March, the act of hesitating in the heat of battle isn’t 1 they can afford to make twice.
This year, a pre-emptive strike is probably needed, and the Broncos still have time to trade for an elite tight end who could take their offense to the next level.
There’s 1 who seems like he might be readily available in 6-foot-6, 257-pound Chicago Bears tight end Cole Kmet, who seems to have had his corner taken by 2025 1st-round pick Colston Loveland by the end of last season but is still an elite option.
The Bears were the only team to land 2 tight ends in ESPN’s annual position rankings, with Loveland at No. 7 and Kmet in the honorable mention selections.
In Kmet’s case, the Broncos could probably package a 2027 3rd-round pick and veteran tight end Adam Trautman to see if the Bears will take the bait — and tell themselves going in, if the Bears want to play hardball, that they’re willing to go up to a 2027 2nd-round pick.
“Kmet is still a quality player who’s friendly for a young quarterback, good in the run game,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler was told by an anonymous NFL executive. “They need to find ways to get Kmet and Loveland on the field together.”
Cole Kmet Market-Corrected by Rookie Tight End
Kmet, who signed a 4-year, $50 million contract extension before the 2023 season, was still valuable to the Bears late in the 2025 season and in the playoffs, but the writing was on the wall by the time the season came to an end in the NFC Divisional Round.
The message? Bears tight end and 2025 1st-round pick Colston Loveland is the future at the position, and Kmet could be out the door.
“Kmet has been productive throughout his Bears tenure, but he may not be viewed as expendable due to the emergence of rookie Colston Loveland in 2025,” Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox wrote in April. “Trading Kmet would save Chicago $7.4 million in cap space of $9 million if traded after June 1 … Kmet is a solid pass-catcher who has tallied 2,939 receiving yards in six seasons and who just turned 27 years old in March.”
Playing alongside Loveland, Kmet had just 30 receptions for 347 yards and 2 touchdowns in 2025 — his lowest production since his rookie season in 2020.
Broncos Don’t Have Real Answers at Tight End
Starting tight end Evan Engram was terrible in 2025 after the Broncos signed him to a terrible 2-year, $23 million contract. He was never worse than when the Broncos needed him most. In 2 playoff games, he had 3 receptions for 26 yards and no touchdowns.
The Broncos tried to improve the position — kind of — in the 2026 NFL draft. They used 2 of their picks on tight ends but, for some reason, didn’t see fit to use anything above a 5th-round pick (No. 152 overall) on North Carolina State’s Justin Joly or a 7th-round pick (No. 256 overall) on Utah’s Dallen Bentley.
Of those 3 options at tight end, Joly probably seems like he has the most potential.
The Athletic’s Nick Baumgardner called Joly 1 of the “Biggest Sleepers” coming out of the NFL draft.
“Joly is a bit of a project — you might never get true first-down, run-blocking power out of him,” Baumgardner wrote. “But he’s a bit of a mutant athletically (6-3, 241), with great vertical speed and enough wiggle to separate at the top of routes. He could be a potential matchup problem in the NFL.”
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