The Chicago Bears traded quarterback Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers this past weekend, and while tight end Cole Kmet seems to understand the business side of things, it doesn’t mean he was any less upset to learn that his friend had been dealt.

“I was planning to hit the city and go out, but then I got a call from Flus (head coach Matt Eberflus) and the people with the Bears, and decided to stay in after the news with Justin,” Kmet said on the CHGO Bears podcast. “Obviously, really upsetting that it came to that, and where it was at that moment, but you kind of felt like the writing was on the wall with that.”

That the Bears traded Fields comes as no surprise, so Kmet was surely expecting this.

Chicago owns the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft and is widely expected to select USC signal-caller Caleb Williams, so the writing has been on the wall for Fields for quite some time.

While Kmet is lamenting the loss of Fields, he still thinks the future is bright in the Windy City.

“I still think, really exciting times for the Bears here,” Kmet said. “This is really exciting times and with whatever rookie they decide to go with, looks like that’s the direction that it’s going, what a great opportunity. What a great opportunity for a young kid to come in here with an infrastructure in place and be ready to go win football games from the get-go.”

Kmet is coming off of an impressive 2023 campaign in which he played every game and was clearly one of Fields’ favorite targets, hauling in 73 receptions for 719 yards and six touchdowns.

The 25-year-old, who played his collegiate football at Notre Dame, was selected by the Bears in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

He logged just 28 catches for 243 yards and a couple of scores during his rookie year and followed that up by catching 60 passes for 612 yards during his sophomore season. However, he was unable to reach the end zone that year. Kmet then snared 50 balls for 544 yards and seven touchdowns in 2022 before truly breaking out this past season.

We’ll see how Cole Kmet adjusts to life without Justin Fields in 2024.

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