Getty
General manager Ryan Poles of the Chicago Bears.
The Chicago Bears ultimately sent DJ Moore to the Buffalo Bills this offseason, though Buffalo tried to acquire the wide receiver several months before the deal got done.
Bills general manager Brandon Beane told the “Pat McAfee Show” on Monday, March 30 that he made overtures to Chicago GM Ryan Poles ahead of the 2025 mid-season trade deadline, but the Bears turned Buffalo away.
“[Moore] was one of the guys that we called and checked,” Beane said. “And Chicago shut it down. They were trying to make a run. But I think they at least knew there was interest, and they reached back out when we got to Indy [for the NFL combine] and said, ‘Hey, you know, maybe we’d be open if something made sense.’ And we [were] fortunate to be able to figure that out.”
Bears Were Ready to Move on From DJ Moore Based on Redundant Skill Set, Steep Cost in 2026
GettyWide receiver DJ Moore, formerly of the Chicago Bears.
Chicago moved Moore this spring for two reasons. The first was a redundant skill set with younger players already on the roster, and second was his cost.
Had he remained on the team, Moore would have entered the 2026 season at the outset of a four-year, $110 million extension as the most expensive player on Chicago’s roster at the age of 29.
The Bears drafted wideout Rome Odunze in the top 10 in 2024, then selected slot receiver Luther Burden III with the 39th pick last season. Both on cost-controlled contracts through 2028, Odunze and Burden will enter 2026 as Chicago’s top two options in the WR room.
Head coach Ben Johnson, who runs a ton of 12 personnel (two-tight end sets) drafted TE Colston Loveland No. 10 last April, while tight end Cole Kmet remains on the roster in the middle of a $50 million deal.
Odunze — who came in as part of the same class as No. 1 overall pick and starting QB Caleb Williams, with whom he has good chemistry — was already overtaking Moore as the No. 1 receiver early in 2025. Thus, all signs pointed to Chicago and Moore parting ways this offseason.
Bears Leaned on DJ Moore During Playoff Run, Then Won Trade With Bills
GettyFormer Chicago Bears wide receiver DJ Moore.
As it turns out, Poles probably made the correct call by holding onto Moore for the stretch run, as Odunze ended up suffering a stress fracture in his foot that cost him the final five contests of the year.
Moore stepped up over that stretch, tallying four catches for 62 yards and two TDs against the Cleveland Browns in a Week 15 victory and another five receptions for 97 yards and the game-winning score against the Green Bay Packers in overtime in Week 16.
He added 11 catches for 116 yards and 2 TDs in Chicago’s two playoff games, a victory over the Packers in Round 1 and a narrow overtime defeat to the Los Angeles Rams in the Divisional Round.
Chicago then sent Moore and a fifth-round pick to Buffalo in return for the 60th overall selection in the second round next month, which most analysts chalked up as a significant transactional victory for Poles over Beane.
Moore is coming off the least productive season of his eight-year career, during which he tallied 50 catches for 682 yards and six TDs.
Max Dible covers the NFL, NBA and MLB for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns. He covered local and statewide news as a reporter for West Hawaii Today and served as news director for BigIslandNow.com and Pacific Media Group’s family of Big Island radio stations before joining Heavy. More about Max Dible
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