The Chicago Bears’ most significant offseason move was arguably a subtraction, and it could still get better for general manager Ryan Poles and Co.
That move was trading wide receiver DJ Moore to the Buffalo Bills.
It invariably shifted the responsibilities in the wide receiver room, but it also provided a couple of other benefits for the Bears, one of which will not be fully realized until a little under one year from now.
Bears’ DJ Moore Trade Gets Strong Words
Bears Dodged True Cost of Keeping DJ Moore
The Bears acquired Moore as part of the package that ultimately yielded quarterback Caleb Williams via the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. However, Moore and Williams never really found the chemistry that teams hope for from their starting QB and WR1.
ESPN’s Seth Walder called the Bears’ decision their “biggest move” of the offseason, also picking it as the “move I liked” from them.
Part of it is simply that the Bears got something back for the veteran wideout.
“Chicago opened its second offseason of the Ben Johnson era with a strong value trade, getting a second-round pick for Moore and a fifth-round selection,” Walder wrote on June 30, urging naysayers to focus on the context.
“Moore was coming off consecutive disappointing seasons and the extension he signed prior to the 2024 campaign is really kicking into gear only now. Even though there are hefty cash salaries remaining on the contract, the Bears somehow got the Bills to give up real draft capital to take that money off Chicago’s books.”
Over The Cap projects the Bears will have just over $8 million in space in 2027, which is where they are heading into training camp this year.
Walden gave them a “B+” for their offseason, while the Bills got a “C” and a “D” for the deal.
“When I spoke to a few people around the league afterward the sentiment was unanimous — this was an overpay,” Walder wrote. “While Buffalo needed help at wide receiver, the price was substantial considering Moore is coming off back-to-back disappointing seasons in Chicago. The Bills also paid draft capital for the right to take over the bulk of his contract — paying him $24.5 million in each of the four remaining years of his deal.”
Bills Leaned Into Decision
While the Bears divested their stock in Moore, the Bills went a different route with the former Carolina Panthers first-round pick. He remains on the four-year, $110 million contract he signed with the Bears in 2024.
However, the Bills have already begun making adjustments to the pact.
“The Bills have some more cap room to work with after restructuring wide receiver DJ Moore’s contract,” Pro Football Talk’s Josh Alper wrote in March. “Moore had $22.185 million of his salary for the 2026 season converted to a signing bonus. The money cleared more than $17.7 million from the team’s cap for the coming season.
“Moore has salaries of $23.485 million in those seasons with $15.5 million of his 2027 salary standing as the only remaining guaranteed money in the pact.”
Moore has cap hits of $28.9 million over the next three seasons. That could be reason enough for the Bills to try restructuring his deal again, possibly multiple times, or look to move on once his guarantees are out of the way.
The Bears avoided having to work through all of that.
It remains to be seen if they can validate trading Moore on the field, which will fall on Johnson and Williams, as well as Luther Burden III and Rome Odunze, who must pick up the slack.
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