Buffalo Raids Bears for WR DJ Moore

The Bills secured a new primary offensive option for quarterback Josh Allen, finalizing a transaction with the Chicago Bears to obtain wide receiver DJ Moore, as informed by sources to ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Thursday.

Buffalo is dispatching a 2026 second-round draft pick to Chicago in return for Moore and a 2026 fifth-round selection, sources disclosed to Schefter.

The Bills will be ensuring $15.5 million of Moore’s $23.5 million core compensation in 2028, his representatives, Drew Rosenhaus and Robert Bailey, disclosed to Schefter. Moore’s $23.5 million core compensation in 2026 is entirely secured, and his 2027 core compensation, also $23.5 million, will be entirely secured by the coming week.

The transaction cannot formally proceed until the new league year commences next Wednesday.

Moore, who celebrates his 29th birthday on April 14, is set to rejoin the Bills’ recently appointed head coach Joe Brady. He was coached by Brady with the Carolina Panthers when Brady was the team’s offensive strategist in 2020 and for the majority of the 2021 season. (Brady was terminated in December 2021.) Two of his most productive periods occurred during his tenure with Brady in Carolina, including achieving a personal best average of 18.1 yards per catch in 2020 and accumulating more than 1,100 receiving yards in both years.

Bills head of football operations and general manager Brandon Beane also orchestrated a trade to acquire a wide receiver during the 2020 inter-season period, relinquishing a first-round pick in a transaction to obtain receiver Stefon Diggs, who represented the franchise for four seasons.

The wide receiver position presented a crucial requirement for the Bills this offseason due to inconsistent performance throughout the entirety of the 2025 season. Moore is set to enter a group of pass-catchers for the 2026 season that harbors some uncertainties concerning their roles apart from Khalil Shakir, including Keon Coleman, Joshua Palmer and Curtis Samuel, Moore’s one-time colleague from the Panthers.

Moore was dealt to Chicago within an exchange that conveyed the premier draft selection to the Panthers in 2023. His immediate rapport with ex-Bears signal-caller Justin Fields resulted in his most successful season, as Moore amassed 1,364 receiving yards and eight touchdowns during his inaugural year with the Bears.

However, subsequent to the 2023 season, Moore’s output has declined, a consequence of altered offensive schemes, different play-calling personnel, and a new quarterback. During Caleb Williams’ debut professional year in 2024, Moore achieved a personal record of 98 receptions for 966 yards and again emerged as the team’s primary pass-catcher, but the 2025 season resulted in an altered position for the 2018 initial-round draftee.

The rise of tight end Colston Loveland, coupled with wide receivers Rome Odunze and Luther Burden III, contributed to Moore experiencing his lowest career figures in receptions (50) and receiving yards (682). Two years after the Bears awarded the wideout a four-year, $110 million agreement prolongation — the most substantial in the team’s annals — Chicago endeavored to generate room among a sizable contingent of pass-catching talent.

Moore’s resilience was a key strength during the 2025 season. With Odunze unavailable for play for five games attributable to a foot injury, and Burden’s rise starting halfway through the season, Moore participated in every one of the 17 contests and made some of the most remarkable receptions of the season, including a 46-yard game-ending score in overtime, securing victory against the Green Bay Packers on Dec. 20.