The Chicago Bears are a team on the rise, but not everybody currently aboard the roster is going to remain on a ride that could end up at the very top of the NFL.
One such player is wide receiver DJ Moore, who is about to enter the first season of a four-year contract worth $110 million in 2026, which makes him the most expensive player on the team. Unfortunately for Moore, he is also one of the more redundant performers in Chicago, given the presence of wideouts Rome Odunze and Luther Burden III, as well as tight ends Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet.
Chicago has considerable needs at left tackle and pass-rusher, neither of which they are likely to address with the No. 25 pick in Round 1 of the draft this April, given the way most analysts project the board to fall.
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“The Bears obviously need more edge rush support, but the board just isn’t lining up,” ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. wrote in his most recent mock draft on Tuesday, Feb. 24.
Kiper went on to project Chicago will select defensive tackle Kayden McDonald out of Ohio State in that spot, which makes it even more likely that Moore will end up on the trade block.
Chicago general manager Ryan Poles addressed Moore’s future with the team during the first day of the NFL Combine in Indianapolis on Tuesday, and he very much left open the possibility that the Bears will deal the 29-year-old receiver.
“He’s a guy we want here, but we have to look at all different scenarios,” Poles said.
Both Bill Barnwell and Jeremy Fowler, each also of ESPN, have authored trade proposals in the second half of February in which Chicago flips Moore and at least a first-round draft pick to the Las Vegas Raiders for edge-rusher Maxx Crosby.
That, in effect, is killing two birds with one stone by clearing $16.5 million off the books for this year’s free agency period by shedding Moore’s contract and also addressing the pass-rush need in the same move.
But even if Crosby doesn’t end up on the trade block, or does and Chicago can’t get him, a Moore trade still makes sense in several scenarios to clear space for other needs around the roster.
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