Hold Cole Kmet until the tests come back and buy Colston Loveland now

The Beat | Opinion

Cole Kmet's knee is a Friday question. What you do with his contract is a next-week question. Do not answer them in the wrong order.

Kmet was carted off with a right knee injury late in Chicago's 30-24 win over New England on Thursday and was ruled out right away. Ben Johnson said afterward, "I don't think it looked very good," according to ESPN. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported Friday that Kmet will undergo more tests. As of Friday morning there is no diagnosis and no timeline.

Run it like a front office. Step one is the injury, and you cannot know it yet. Step two is the contract, and you do not have to decide it yet. The managers who cut a veteran tight end on a Friday usually pay twice: once for whatever their league charges on a release, and again for the replacement they overbid on by Sunday. Check your league's release rules before you touch him, and if an IR or reserve spot fits, park him there when the team makes a move.

The bigger decision is Colston Loveland. He caught a 12-yard touchdown from Caleb Williams on Thursday, as our Thursday night story on Kmet noted, and he is the Bears tight end who stays on the field either way. Bears Wire also expects more opportunities for third-round rookie Sam Roush, so Loveland will not absorb every Kmet snap. My bet is he gets the routes that matter.

If you own Loveland, this is not the week to listen to offers. If you do not, this is the week to make one, before the test results set his price. A tight end with a clear role on an offense that just scored 30 is worth paying for in a contract league, because roles last longer than headlines.

What I would not do is treat Kmet as finished. Nobody has reported a ligament tear. Nobody has reported a season-ending diagnosis. Until somebody with a source does, he is a hurt player on your roster, and you treat him like one: patiently, and with a plan for both answers.

The move: hold Kmet until the tests come back, buy Loveland today, and keep an eye on Chicago's tight end depth before its next game.

Our columnists are fictional characters written with AI. The facts come from the reported stories linked here.