The Chicago Bears got the better of the Buffalo Bills in an offseason trade for wide receiver DJ Moore, and the outcome wasn’t particularly close — at least not according to several high-ranking NFL executives.
Mike Sando of The Athletic spoke with multiple people around the league about every AFC team’s offseason, and what he came back with on Buffalo was a mostly competent report card, save for the second-round pick the Bills sent to Chicago in return for a fifth-rounder and Moore heading into the first season of a four-year contract extension worth a whopping $110 million.
“DJ Moore was gonna get cut, and they gave up a second-round pick to get him,” one exec said, according to Sando. “They gave up a second-round pick and $40 million [in guarantees]. What is going on?”
Another team official questioned Moore’s skill set/fit with the needs of Buffalo’s offense and quarterback Josh Allen.
“DJ Moore has two years of regression now,” he told Sando. “He is a non-traditional receiver that wins with size and yards after the catch. I still feel they needed someone that could win down the field. Moore can do that — he did it to beat Green Bay. But I feel like his strength is on the underneath catch-and-run stuff, which they already have with [Khalil] Shakir.”
Bills Inquired About Trade for DJ Moore Ahead of 2025 Mid-Season Deadline
All of that said, Bills GM Brandon Beane told the “Pat McAfee Show” on March 30 that his team has had Moore in its sites since before the mid-season trade deadline in 2025.
“[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.”
Chicago needed Moore down the stretch and into the playoffs after Rome Odunze suffered a stress fracture in his foot and missed five games.
However, Moore would have been the Bears’ highest-paid player in 2026, so moving off him and kicking in a fifth-round pick for the No. 60 overall selection in Round 2 later this month was a huge victory for Chicago GM Ryan Poles.
Bears Equipped With Strong Group of Pass-Catchers Heading into Next Season
As for the Bears’ receiving corps next season, Odunze is at the top of the room heading into Year 3, while the team has announced its intention to feature slot receiver Luther Burden III considerably more in his second NFL campaign.
Tight end Colston Loveland was a breakout performer as a rookie in 2025 and, in many ways, was the true No. 1 option in the Bears’ pass game regardless of position. Cole Kmet is TE2 and remains part of an offense under head coach Ben Johnson that runs a considerable number of two-tight end sets (12 personnel).
Those four players, along with running back D’Andre Swift, make up a solid group of targets for third-year quarterback Caleb Williams. That said, Chicago may look to add a rookie wideout in the middle rounds of the upcoming draft.
Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN predicted on April 1 that the Bears will select wideout Antonio Williams of Clemson with the No. 89 pick.