No Offseason: Not Gonna Work Here Any Moore Anyway...

This one will bring out the emotions of the fans. DJ Moore has been traded to the Buffalo Bills according to reports and depending on your perspective, you’re either beyond sad that Justin Fields’ favorite target is gone, very excited that a player with multiple instances of effort issues is off the team or kind of impressed that Ryan Poles was able to navigate moving a difficult contract, remove emotion to make a hard decision and maybe most importantly, admit defeat on one of his signature moves as Bears GM that sets up the 2026 Bears to be way more dangerous.

Moore was acquired in the Godfather trade that ultimately netted the Bears Caleb Williams and others from Carolina. It was a terrific piece of the trade because Moore was and at times still is a high-level receiver. He propped up Justin Fields in his first year but then never really found chemistry with Caleb Williams and then found himself a tertiary piece of the Ben Johnson offense.

Let’s talk about the player first and then what it means going forward. PFF had Moore ranked as its 58^th receiver out of 81. He had his lowest output of his professional career in yardage this year with 682 and his success rate was 47.1, tied for his career low output with… last year. It became clear this year that Ben Johnson just never really found a role for him. Which brings up some of the moments of less than 100% effort that have followed him for two years now. In my opinion, and the opinion’s of the football knowers that I listen to, some of it is effort for sure but it is more football IQ than effort. Although you can find lots of screenshots that support the claim that he doesn't give effort either like this one...

Nine guys trying to push for a touchdown, not your highest paid player.

JT O’Sullivan called it “lack of craft” which cuts to the heart of it. Basically, DJ Moore is a really good receiver when he is asked to run a route, turn or break at a spot and look for the football. It’s why he was such a good first option for Justin Fields. Fields couldn’t process the whole field so the guy who he knew would probably be open at the spot he was supposed to be at was going to get the ball. It sort of worked with Caleb Williams in 2024 to the tune of 98 catches for 966 yards. But an improviser like Williams needs receivers who can improvise and find space outside of the structure of the play. That’s just not Moore. Enter Ben Johnson. Johnson’s scheme is known for many things; two in particular are choice routes (usually a short route in which the receiver has the option to break in, out or stop based on the coverage) and late field reads. Between those two facets of scheme and Williams’ improvising skills, we saw clear examples of why Moore wasn’t a long term fit.

Early in the season there was a mystifyingly high number of targets for Oladmide Zaccheus. 48 through nine games to be exact. Why? Because Zaccheus was running all the choice routes. They were comfortable safety valves for Caleb Williams as he learned the offense and gave a receiver a chance to get into space and turn a four-yard pass into a 12 yard gain. The question is then why isn’t your highest paid player, known for creating after the catch, getting those looks? Well, it’s safe to say that Johnson didn’t trust Moore to have the craft to read a defense and make those quick choices. Zaccheus’s targets went down in the second half of the season, but it was Luther Burden cutting into them, not Moore.

Another moment is at the end of a lost game in Baltimore. It was scramble time and to be fair, this play was set up by an insane DJ Moore catch. But they were at the goal line and Caleb Williams started dancing trying to make something happen and he threw a ball that looked like the ball every hater would have you convinced he throws every snap. It may have hit a popcorn vendor. But what actually happened? Williams was looking for Moore who had lots of room on the back line, Williams threw it there, but Moore had stopped. He had stopped right in front of Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith, presumably because that’s the way the play was drawn up. Instead of something clicking in his mind that he needed to make himself available, he ran to get covered and Williams took the heat.

Williams, Smith and Moore in a perfectly straight line. No window to throw. Three steps to the left is an easy TD.

From the back angle, it's obvious that's where Williams is going with the ball.

Finally, the play that ended it all. Johnson’s route concepts often ask players to make decisions later in the route to open up space. On the infamous play against LA, Moore was running across the field at the face of safety Kam Curl. The following has not been confirmed by Johnson or Williams but again, football people I like and believe have said so. Moore’s job was to press that safety into making a decision to either drop to cover Moore going over his head or drive to cut Moore off from getting across the field. Curl did neither and held his ground. Moore saw this and slowed up, not because he was lazy but because he was confused. Caleb Williams thought he was going to break and the rest is history. Also worth noting that it was a pretty crappy decision from Williams and a bad route by Odunze that failed to clear the coverage.

First, whatever the opposite of an assist is, give to Rome Odunze as he's supposed to push this safety deeper so the under route has more room but this is the concept. (Source: The QB School)

This is where Moore needs to make the read. Curl is circled and he is not giving ground, he's softly driving. Moore could really make either read here, beat him over the top or cut hard to the sideline. Either way he beats Curl. Instead he does the squiggle route at half speed and has Curl beat him underneath.

Whatever the motivation for Moore’s effort on that route sums up exactly why he can’t be here in this system with this QB. Even if he’s confused, make a choice and get open for your quarterback. You can’t stop playing because the play breaks down, the improvisation of Caleb Williams wasn’t utilized particularly well this year in large part because his receivers didn’t help him enough.

It also can’t be left off of his resume that he did quite a few great things for the Bears. The comparison that keeps coming to mind for him is Starlin Castro on the Cubs. Served as a positive focal point for some really bad teams and had some moments as the team began to ascend but it was pretty clear that he wasn’t going to make it long term with the new and improved team. Moore took shots, played hurt, made huge catches and scored lots of touchdowns for a team and an offense that isn’t exactly used to watching wide receivers do that. But in the end, much like Castro, it is a breakup that is necessary and better for both sides.

So what does that mean now? Because of the timing of the trade the Bears will add 16.5 million in cap space. They could have added 25 had they waited until June 1 but it’s understandable they had to do something quickly because the time to replace him (with DEEEEEBOOOO more on that later) is next week. Had to be done. They now add WR to their list of free agency needs and three veterans with great hands and pretty good resumes should be on that list: Deebo Samuel, Wan’Dale Robinson and Mike Evans. There simply hasn’t been enough production from Rome Odunze or Luther Burden to pencil them in as your two primary receivers. Both missed games last year and Odunze needs to have a big year or those “BUST” whispers become yells.

It also means the Bears have all the financial flexibility to do whatever they want this offseason. That can mean multiple significant additions to the defense, a new center and that veteran wide receiver. Or it could mean reeling in a big fish like Maxx Crosby. The Crosby thing still feels a little media driven for me just because we saw this same movie with Myles Garrett last year. He wanted to win; he wanted out and then the Browns gave him lots more money and wasting his career became much more palatable. Is that Crosby? Remains to be seen but I’ll believe he’s leaving Las Vegas when I see it.

Finally, it might be time to consider that Ryan Poles is turning into an honest to god, good NFL GM. He added a 2026 2^nd rounder for Moore. That means if the Bears do want to go all in for Crosby and it takes their first two picks, they’re still not totally naked in this year’s draft. If it takes this year’s first rounder and other picks down the line, they then effectively move back 30ish spots to add Crosby this year.

We’ll always have the TDs against the Packers DJ but this is a huge W for everyone that has an interest in the Bears.