Bear down. There is a new culture being set in the Windy City. Wide receiver DJ Moore’s inaugural season in Chicago was such a hit that the Bears are locking him up through the 2029 campaign.
Moore and the Bears have come to terms on a four-year, $110 million extension with $82.6 million guaranteed, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday. Chicago later confirmed the extension.
Moore, 27 years old, will average a cool $27.5 million over his next four years, which would rank him seventh among wide receivers currently, and his total value would be fifth, even though he still has two years remaining on his current contract.
A former first-round pick, Moore was the center piece of a 2023 blockbuster trade that sent the No. 1 overall selection from Chicago to Carolina in exchange for Moore and four draft picks. At the time of the trade, Chicago general manager Ryan Poles said he was “over the moon” about acquiring Moore in the haul from the Panthers and was nervous and on the edge of his seat that the elite receiver would not be available had the Bears dragged their feet and waited past the date they pulled off the trade, March 10, 2023.
Since coming into the NFL in 2018, Moore has caught a pass from a bevy of 12 different quarterbacks, yet still ranks seventh in the league in receiving yards over that period of time despite playing with a rotating cast of marginal signal callers.
“Our best player has got to be our hardest workers and they’ve got to be our best finishers and they’ve got to be available to practice out there, and DJ certainly is that,” Bears coach Matt Eberflus said in June. “He’s as tough as they come and he is a great teammate and he is our hardest worker and one of our most talented guys.”
Embed from Getty ImagesThe signing demonstrates the Bears’ confidence and belief in Moore and how that falls in line to aiding the development of quarterback Caleb Williams. It is also the latest sign of many this offseason, that it pays very well to be a top-level wide receiver in the NFL, as Moore’s deal follows other lucrative extensions such as the Minnesota Vikings’ Justin Jefferson ($110 million guaranteed), the Detroit Lions’ Amon-Ra St. Brown ($120 million), the Philadelphia Eagles’ A.J. Brown ($84 million) and you have not seen anything yet. There is also likely more to come with the Dallas Cowboys’ CeeDee Lamb, the San Francisco 49ers’ Brandon Aiyuk and the Cincinnati Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase looking for bigger paydays. All three of them are not practicing at the moment with their respected teams.
Tuesday was all about Moore, who made his debut with the Bears last season after he was acquired via trade with the Panthers. He lived up to the hype, posting the fourth 1,000-yard season of his six-year career with a career-high 1,364 yards. His 96 receptions and eight touchdowns were also tops in his tenure.
There is an overflow of excitement surrounding the Moore-led wide receiver corps, which now includes multi-time Pro Bowler Keenan Allen, who was brought on board via a trade this offseason, and rookie Rome Odunze, who was drafted with No. 9 overall pick out of the University of Arkansas.
While Williams will still need to work on a way to spread out the number of targets to make all his pass catchers feel involved in the offense, and do not forget tight end Cole Kmet, Moore’s extension is a definite statement in the organizations belief in him being a star who will shine brightly for seasons to come in Chi-Town.
