D.J. Moore‘s Bears future has been in question, and he will indeed be on the move soon. The veteran wideout will be dealt to the Bills once the new league year begins, as first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Chicago will receive a 2026 second-round pick (No. 60 overall) in the deal while sending a 2026 fifth-rounder back to Buffalo, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. The Bears will also see $16.5MM in cap savings, according to Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap, though that will not kick in until the trade is processed at the start of the new league year. As a result, they will need to make other moves to become cap-compliant by next Wednesday.
The Bills will take on the remainder of Moore’s contract, which runs through 2029. He is owed $24.5MM in each year with the same cap number. His 2026 salary is already guaranteed, and $15.5MM of his 2027 salary guarantees on March 13. Buffalo is also guaranteeing $15.5MM of Moore’s 2028 salary as part of the trade, per Schefter. It is unclear if they are expanding the 2027 guarantees to cover the entire year’s salary. Moore, notably, has negotiated fully-guaranteed compensation for each of his first nine seasons in the NFL and could very well get to 11 as a result of this deal.
Along with the second-rounder they moved to acquire him, that is a hefty commitment for a player who just posted career-low receiving numbers in the NFL’s 10th-ranked passing offense. His 1.44 yards per route run in 2024 and 1.24 YPRR in 2025 are the lowest figures of his career, per Pro Football Focus, (subscription required). However, that can be partially attributed to a crowded Bears offense that featured a strong running game and young pass-catchers Rome Odunze, Colston Loveland, and Luther Burden.
Still, Buffalo had a clear desire to upgrade their receiving corps. They checked in on A.J. Brown and Alec Pierce, per Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, but ultimately opted to reunite Moore with head coach Joe Brady. The two last worked together in Carolina in 2020 and 2021, during which time Moore put up 2,350 yards and eight touchdowns on 159 receptions. Perhaps Brady can get him back to that production or better in a receiver room with less competition – Khalil Shakir was the only Bills wideout to top 40 receptions or 500 receiving yards last year. But given the financial and draft compensation, it is hard to like this trade for the Bills. Moore is about to turn 29 after two years of decline and the team is essentially tied to him through his age-31 season after adding guarantees to his deal.