5 reasons Chicago Bears extending Cole Kmet was an easy decision

Betting on what Cole Kmet can become

This goes hand-in-hand with the last point. Cole Kmet has produced a lot for his age. Still, at his age, it is clear that the best is yet to come. When looking at some of the top tight ends in the NFL, none of them hit their career peak by age 23, and some of them were not even in the NFL at that point.

Dallas Goedert had his best season when he was 26, so the peak of play for Kmet may not even come until he is a few years into this new deal. For comparison, Goedert was a rookie when he was 23; Kmet has played three seasons. Darren Waller started late, but his best year was at age 27.

George Kittle was 24 when he entered the NFL, and he was 26 and 27 when he had his best years. Travis Kelce did not have a yard until he was 25 years old and really was not making huge plays until he was closer to 27. Zach Ertz peaked at age 28, Evan Engram is 28, and it is coming together for him, Mark Andrews had his best season at age 26, and TJ Hockenson is coming off of age 25 when it looks like it is coming together for him

There is not a single player in the top tight ends in the NFL that peaked at the age of Cole Kmet. There is a better case to be made that Kmet may not hit his peak for another three or four years before the case can be made that we have seen the best of Kmet.

Fans are seeing what Kmet is and not thinking he can improve, but every tight end who gets on the field at his age gets so much better once they hit a later stage of their career. Cole Kmet should be the same.