The Chicago Bears have agreed to a trade that will send wide receiver D.J. Moore and a 2026 fifth-round draft pick to the Buffalo Bills for a 2026 second-round draft pick, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. The trade will be finalized once the new league year begins on March 11th.
The move reunites Moore with Joe Brady, who served as his former offensive coordinator in Carolina from 2020 to 2022. During that stretch, Moore started 34 games, catching 159 passes for 2,350 receiving yards and eight touchdowns.
In 17 regular-season games with the Bears last year, Moore caught 50 passes for 682 yards and six receiving touchdowns. In the playoffs, he recorded another 11 receptions for 116 yards and two TDs.
D.J. Moore will be entering his ninth season in the NFL next year. In five years with the Panthers and three seasons with the Bears, he has 608 career receptions for 8,213 yards and 41 touchdowns.
The Bills get a number-one receiver
Ever since Stefon Diggs left Buffalo in 2024, the Bills have struggled to find his replacement. Their wide receivers haven't been bad, but the franchise has lacked a true number-one wideout. Nobody on Buffalo's roster has gone over 1,000 receiving yards during this period. Hell, their leading receiver over the last two years has been Khalil Shakir, who has only averaged 770 receiving yards per season since the start of 2024.
D.J. Moore can come in and be an immediate upgrade at the wide receiver spot, considering he has better stats over the last two years than any of the Bills' pass catchers, even though he had a down season last year. Since the start of the 2024-25 season, Moore has more receiving yards and touchdowns than Khalil Shakir, even though they caught the same number of passes during that stretch (148). Moore's presence will be most felt in the end zone since he has more receiving touchdowns over the last two years than anybody on Buffalo's roster.
This is a low-risk, high-reward move by the Bills. If it works out well, then Buffalo just gave Josh Allen a reliable number-one receiver. If Moore fails to live up to expectations, then there is an out in his contract in 2028 before he turns 31 years old. He's still got plenty of gas left in the tank and had several clutch moments last season, which fills a glaring need that Buffalo has had for some time now.
The Bears get some much-needed financial flexibility and a high-value draft pick
A change of scenery was necessary for Moore. After posting career-highs in receptions (96), receiving yards (1,364), and touchdowns (eight) in his first season with Chicago, his numbers have been on the decline ever since. Clearly, quarterback Caleb Williams found new weapons that he trusted more.
More importantly, the Bears needed to move on from Moore because of their salary cap issues. According to Over the Cap, Moore was scheduled to count for $28.5 million against the cap next year. However, once this trade is made official, Chicago will be out of the red and will have $9 million in available cap space.
There's still work to be done, but the Bears are creating more financial flexibility, which will allow them to retain key contributors from last season. Pro Bowlers like Nahshon Wright and Kevin Byard III, and other veterans such as Jaquan Brisker, Olamide Zaccheaus, and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, are all expected to test out free agency. With the salary cap savings that will come from this trade, they probably won't have to lose all of those players.
The Bears need to free up as much cap space as possible because this is an incredibly important off-season for them. After winning the NFC North, they need to continue building on their success, and that starts with bolstering the defense and shoring up the offensive line. With the unexpected retirement of Drew Dalman, the Bears will be in the market for a center. They also desperately need to add a difference-making pass rusher after finishing tied for 22nd in sacks (35). They still need to make a lot of moves to free up more cap space, but offloading D.J. Moore is a step in the right direction and at least gets them out of the red.
We also have to give kudos to general manager Ryan Poles, who got a high-value pick while simultaneously giving his team more financial freedom. A second-round selection will change how Chicago chooses to approach the 2026 NFL Draft since it didn't have a second-rounder before this deal. The Bears can use that pick to address a key need, or they could include it in a trade package that will help them acquire a high-level defender. Regardless, that second-round pick will be an important part of Chicago’s off-season plans.
