D.J. Moore was a key part of the package the Panthers sent the Bears to acquire the No. 1 pick in 2023. He is attached to a contract which came before the position’s market surged, though, which could put him in line to command a raise in the relatively near future.
Moore, 27, topped 1,100 yards three times during his five-year tenure in Carolina. The Panthers were not looking to move on from him shortly after he inked his current contract, but the fact he was no longer on his rookie deal factored into the Bears’ insistence he was part of the blockbuster swap. Arriving in Chicago as the team’s No. 1 wideout, Moore enjoyed a career year last season. 
The former first-rounder set a new personal best in catches (96), yards (1,364) and touchdowns (eight) in 2023 despite the Bears’ QB situation being less than ideal. That has been the case for much of Moore’s career, although Caleb Williams could change that. This year’s top pick enters the league with major expectations, but the presence of a well-regarded skill group may limit what he needs to do as a rookie for the Bears to be successful.
Chicago traded for Keenan Allen before following up the Williams pick with the selection of Rome Odunze. The former has one year on his current deal while the latter will be cost-controlled through at least 2027. Moore, meanwhile, has two years remaining on his $61.88MM extension. While there is no need for urgency this summer, Kevin Fishbain of The Athletic notes the Maryland product is a strong candidate for an extension based on his play along with his high standing in the organization (subscription required).
Moore is due just over $16MM in 2024 and ’25, but only $1.11MM of his base salaries in that span are guaranteed. In terms of annual average value, he now sits 17th in the league with respect to receiver compensation (a ranking which will drop further once the likes of CeeDee Lamb, Ja’Marr Chase and Brandon Aiyuk sign their own second contracts). A deal keeping him place through the remainder of his prime and tying him to Chicago while Williams is on his rookie pact would be sensible for team and player based on Moore’s first year in the Windy City.
On the other hand, the presence of Allen (who is interested in a market-level Bears deal) and Odunze could lessen Moore’s role on offense. General manager Ryan Poles may prefer to wait out the 2024 season and see how the team’s new offensive playmakers fit before committing to a Moore deal. In the event that were to take place, though, another productive year could up his asking price in the wake of continued increases in the receiver market.
Two agents Fishbain spoke with (but who do not represent Moore) used Calvin Ridley‘s Titans deal (four years, $92MM) as a comparable deal. Moore – who is two years younger and has a nearly identical yards per game average for his career – could certainly command a raise if a short-term deal were to be worked out by tacking on a few years to the remainder of his current pact. The agents suggested a two-year, $60MM top-up could be an appropriate figure in this case.
With considerable cap space now and in the near future, the Bears can certainly afford a big-ticket Moore investment. It will be interesting to see if Poles and the Bears pursue an agreement over the course of the summer or take a more patient approach with him.
To quote Michael Scott:
“NO GOD!!!! NO GOD PLEASE NO! NO! NOOOOOO!!!!”
This is coming from a Panthers fan.
I don’t really understand this. He was objectively good for the Panthers, so I am not sure why you would advise teams against resigning him. Maybe I misunderstood what you were saying.
Because I want him to come back to the Panthers. I don’t want to see him spend the rest of his career with the Bears.
Do it next off-season after seeing how he produces in the new system with Caleb. Essentially use the money Keenan is making to re up DJ. Rome then moved up to WR2
Moore has been a consistent producer despite four different offensive systems (five if you count an interim) and eight different quarterbacks start at least four games. If there’s any guy you don’t have to worry about adjusting to a new system and a new QB, I think it’s him. He also hasn’t missed a game since 2020 (and didn’t miss a lot of time when he did). If you can save some money by locking him up earlier, he strikes me as one of the safer guys to do that with. (And your point about using some of the Allen money after this year still applies.)
They don’t have much cap space left this season (not sure where the writer got that), but Poles has inferred that Moore is next in line. He’s his kind of player and one he traded for, so I’d be shocked if it doesn’t happen. Allen will want to get paid too, and he’s great, but he’s missed at least 4 games every season for the last 3 years. Maybe they work something out, but Moore is the guy.
I’m not sure about an extension this year but it surely seems like the Bears could increase the guaranteed money for the next two years. That seems awfully light for a #1 WR. 1.5 million? How is that even possible? Who’s his agent?
Signing guys on the early side can get you ahead of the market. His contract has the 17th most in total guarantees of any active receiver deal in football. Of the guys ahead of him, 8 signed those contracts this offseason and most of the others signed after Moore. It’s also not weird for a three year contract to have most of its guaranteed salary in the first two years. His deal was a hair over the deals Mike Williams and Chris Godwin signed like a week earlier, and those guys had more leverage, since they were on the verge of free agency (or franchise tagged in Godwin’s case).
100% agree, try and add 2 maybe 3 years to his deal with a hefty bump of guaranteed money, maybe first 2 years and add some money to the remaining two years in his deal. Avoid waiting and having to spend $30m/year. Rather extend DJ than Keenan and then see how Keenan does this year, if he stays healthy before deciding what to do with him.
“A deal keeping him place through the remainder of his prime and tying him to Chicago while Williams is on his rookie pact would be sensible for team and player”.
The Bears have been called a lot of things but “sensible” isn’t their calling card.
Looking back at this, I just have to think that Carolina could have included Burns, who they were going to end up jettisoning afterward anyway, instead of Moore and still pulled off that deal.
Of course at the time they were still operating under the delusion that Burns would sign a non-record setting deal after the Panthers rejected the Rams’ blockbuster offer, but knowing that they wanted to draft a quarterback and lacked any trustworthy weapons probably should have made Moore a higher priority in that situation. The Bears did and still are looking for a pass rush leader, and wanted Burns at the time. Perhaps the Bears would have even accepted less value picks-wise in order to acquire him. The Panthers could have pulled the same trade with Burns, and ended up with Moore and Young at the end. Now, they have no Burns, no Moore, and just a beaten down Young who will look to try and establish a new top receiver in his second year.
The Bears really did well with that trade-props to them for recognizing Moore’s versatility and value. Now, he’ll do for Williams in his rookie year what Carolina should have had him do for Young in his rookie year. Between him, Allen, and Odunze, Williams may not have to break a sweat in finding open players. As a sidenote-it’s still rather sobering to see that Moore is still only 27. The Bears could conceivably offer him two contracts and still have him as an effective receiver by the time that he’s finished in the Windy City. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that Moore will finish whatever extension he gets in Chicago and still be a valuable player afterward.
Moore had a 10.0 yards per target on a team that was offensively gifted. He hasn’t missed a game in three years, and has played in 97 of a possible 99 games. And as someone else mentioned, his new contract would slide in right after Allen leaves.
They have some leverage right now with two years remaining. They need to use that to their advantage.