The Chicago Bears are trading wide receiver DJ Moore to the Buffalo Bills, NFL Network and ESPN reported Thursday.

In doing so, the Bears are trading a player who not long ago they saw as a big part of their future. However, last season young playmakers Rome Odunze, Luther Burden III and Colston Loveland emerged as top targets in coach Ben Johnson’s offense.

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Moore, 28, had his moments in 2025 too — none bigger than a walk-off touchdown in overtime against the Green Bay Packers on Dec. 20 at Soldier Field — but he seemed to disappear at times. Moore caught one or zero passes in five games last season.

He totaled 50 catches for 682 yards and six touchdowns in 2025. In three seasons in Chicago, he had 3,012 yards and 20 touchdowns on 244 receptions in 51 regular-season games.

The Bears loved Moore’s toughness. He never missed a game after the team traded for him in 2023 and hasn’t missed a game since 2020. But the decision to move on from Moore likely had more to do with his contract.

Moore signed a four-year, $110 million extension with the team in summer 2024. At the time, he still had two years remaining on his current deal, so the extension was set to hit the books in 2026. He was due to cost $28.5 million against the salary cap this year.

Trading him won’t free up all of that money, but it will save the Bears about $16.5 million against the cap. With cap space tight heading into 2026, that money could be spent elsewhere as the Bears prepare to lean on the young pass-catching talent they’ve assembled.

Nevertheless, it’s an abrupt ending to the relationship that began when the Bears traded the No. 1 draft pick to the Carolina Panthers in March 2023. General manager Ryan Poles prioritized adding a veteran talent in that deal, which also netted the 2024 pick that became quarterback Caleb Williams. Moore was that veteran talent.

Moore had a career-best 1,364 receiving yards and eight touchdowns the following season with Justin Fields at quarterback. But after the Bears drafted Williams with the No. 1 pick in 2024, Moore never quite reached that level of output with his new quarterback.

Now the Bears are moving on without him.

Moore is entering his ninth NFL season, having played his first five with the Panthers after they selected him with the 24th pick of the 2018 draft out of Maryland.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/05/chicago-bears-trade-dj-moore-buffalo-bills/